


Heavily Medicated

by Rootallica615



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: $uicideboy$, 100, Adulting, Adults, Aftercare, Ass to Mouth, BBBBrows, BFFs, Best Friends, Bisexual Characters, Bisexuality, Boring conversations, Coitus Interruptus, Complete Non-Awkwardness, Condoms, Confessions, Consensual Sex, Doggos - Freeform, Drinking, Ecstasy - Freeform, Explicit Sexual Content, Facial, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Gypsy Kisses, I lied, I swear I make jokes in all my stories that only I find funny, Idiots in Love, Jealousy, Kinda, Kissing, M/M, Making Love, Making Out, Marijuana, Mild Depressive Feelings, Mutual Pining, N̛҉̴͘o̵̧͢͜ ́̕͝H̷̷̡́o̧͢҉m̶̡ơ͜͟ ̵̡͘͢W̷͢͠͡͠e̢͟ ̷̡͏S̕͠͡͡m̢ò͢k͘͠͠i̧͡͝ņ̴̶́͝ ̸̡̛͡Ṕ̴̡e͏̴̷n͜͢į͢s̨̀a̴̢ş̸̷̴̴., Painkillers, Pining, Recreational Drug Use, Romance, Sexual Tension, Sharing Clothes, Sharing a Bed, Shaving, Smut, Songfic, Ushijima Wakatoshi's Mom, as I tag this I realize it's just turning into a comedy, as usual, ass eating, blazeit420, blowjob, bottom!Tendou Satori, bruh, but they won't admit it, cockslut, cuteness, dense idiots, dumb jokes, have y'all listened to DAMN. yet?, i have a playlist so ya know, idk - Freeform, it's lit, join me on this journey of self discovery, mask off, post-college, puppers, rap music in general is referenced, some slut...calling?, sweating, this becomes fluff, this got really dirty lol sorry but like you’re welcome, top!Ushijima Wakatoshi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-25
Updated: 2017-10-18
Packaged: 2018-11-19 02:30:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 33,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11303889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rootallica615/pseuds/Rootallica615
Summary: Ushijima and Tendou are still best friends after college and live in the same town. After an unexpected development in their relationship they begin to spend more time together and question their feelings for each other.~~i.e. the "friends with benefits" fic because why not. Boring stuff happens mostly in between the cute stuff so I'm sorry this isn't extra emotional or anything; it may get there eventually.





	1. Heavily Medicated

**Author's Note:**

> All I do is write out of character self-indulgent fics but you know what, I don’t give a fuck. Enjoy this horrible shit that’s not fluff for once (although I’m sure I’ll manage to get romance in there somewhere)! Please don’t make fun of my reference to Mask Off, all my friends are college boys lol.
> 
> Also as a side note, yes this is because I listen to $uicideboy$ way too much unironically, and even though it’s hardly even mentioned in this fic, if you suffer from depression or suicidal thoughts please talk to someone, this is not me making light of a bad situation; this is just some shit I felt like writing.

Tendou flopped himself down onto the cushy loveseat against the far wall of Ushijima’s apartment. He turned the TV onto something he wasn’t planning on paying attention to and slung his arm across the top of the couch, letting the remote slide into the spot next to him. It was pretty late already but recently Ushijima had been inviting him to chill on the weekends so he wouldn’t be cooped up all alone. The kitchen light was a warm orange but it hardly illuminated the living space from behind the half-wall standing between. He sighed and leaned his head back against the cushion and stared at the ceiling until he saw Ushijima’s silhouette come up on his right from the hallway sporting a sleeveless gray shirt (semi-uncommon due to the brunette’s constant need to look put together for his job) and a pair of joggers. Tendou wasn’t dressed much nicer in his black tank and sweats. Ushijima took the remote from its spot and muted the TV, switching remotes to connect his phone to a separate speaker via Bluetooth.

“Where’s the box?” Tendou addressed him with a lazy looking smirk and Ushijima spared him a side glance.

“Coffee table drawer.” Tendou leaned forward a bit and reached into the drawer in front of him pulling out a lightly worn keepsake box. He let out a little huff through his nose every time he saw it. It was just like Ushijima to keep his weed in a pretty little container. He set it on the table and opened it up to roll his joint. Ushijima walked to the kitchen silently once he got his music working on low volume.

“Hey Wakkun, grab me a beer, I’m gonna get crossfaded.” He laughed once as he pulled out a hand lighter from his pocket and held the stick between his lips. Ushijima just hummed and took out two beers from the mini fridge in the corner of the dining room and set them down in front of Tendou with one hand when he returned. Tendou leaned back again and slumped a little waiting for the first few hits to take effect, and watched Ushijima sit next to him and stare at the TV for a moment before resting his eyes. “You want a hit?” He held out his right hand, the joint between his forefinger and thumb. He looked at the glow of the paper and then up to Tendou’s wild red hair and slowly slipping eyelids.

“No… I took a Percocet an hour ago. And I just popped a Molly.” Oh? He pulled the stick back and grinned, getting comfortable. Apparently even Ushijima, who prided himself in his stoicism and self-control, wanted to let go every now and then. Tendou was pretty honored just to be able to witness him when he was like this, let alone the fact that Ushijima trusted his long-time friend enough to share his company in this state. “My shoulder is fucking killing me.” He closed his eyes back and Tendou gave him a sorry look.

Ever since he injured his shoulder their last year of college Ushijima had been benched to prevent further problems. Although he seemed to get better Tendou could tell at the time that all he wanted to do was keep playing, and even when they practiced together his shots were becoming more blockable. It tugged at Tendou’s heartstrings to see his best friend defeated slowly by his own body, his own power. A professional career seemed farther away with each passing day and even though his scholarships got him a top notch education and a successful job, Ushijima seemed to change. Reality had hit both of them after that albeit it affected Tendou less. He worked a regular job after all that and had quit volleyball after high school anyways.

“You know this would probably help more than those meds you took earlier.” Tendou blew smoke up above them.

“I hate to waste a perfectly good prescription.” Ushijima tapped his finger lightly against the sofa arm on his side, eyes still closed. “I’d also like to continue to form sentences once you’re unable to.” Tendou let out a loud laugh at that and giggled a little after. He was getting there.

“Once I can’t think anymore you’ll be talking enough for the both of us anyways…” He reached out and twisted the cap off one of the beers that had started to sweat and took a sip. He wasn’t much of a beer drinker so he couldn’t take long swigs like he’d seen Ushijima take before; he preferred wells because they were cheap and he could get lit up a little quicker. Not to mention the taste of the hard alcohol was better than the taste of beer in his opinion. He took a bigger sip this time. “This isn’t laced is it?”

“Of course not, that’s dangerous. You think I wanna die smoking a joint?” He could tell Ushijima was getting there too because of his gradual loss of perfect annunciation.

“Coulda’ fooled me.” Tendou internally winced at that jab. Ushijima didn’t respond to it but Tendou decided to play it off as a joke against his drug use rather than one against his mental state. Ushijima’s foot bounced his leg up and down impatiently and Tendou could tell his meds were kicking in. Tendou on the other hand felt like the couch was pulling him in, his arms and legs pleasantly heavy. He heard a long sigh beside him and watched Ushijima stand up abruptly and place his hands behind his neck as he paced, feigning calmness. “You good?”

“Yeah, just getting antsy.” Tendou chuckled lowly and instead of it trailing off like it usually did he could feel his face straining to keep laughing. Ushijima’s eyes just watched him crack up uncontrollably, only his shoulders moving along. He paced faster now and let a smile inkle at his lips. “Shit, I’m getting itchy. Your laugh is really loud.” Tendou laughed harder and tears formed at the corners of his eyes. Nothing was even funny and his diaphragm was starting to hurt. Ushijima was still talking though and Tendou was dying because it was so out of character of him. Not to mention he was talking much more quickly than usual. Tendou stopped paying attention to him once his laugh died down and he rubbed his eyes. This went on for about as long as it took Tendou to finish his first beer, struggling to even keep his arms off the couch for long enough to take a drink.

“Ah, where do you even get this shit?” The weed was pretty good and Tendou honestly wondered if he was just a lightweight in every aspect. Ushijima circled around the coffee table and leaned down to intensely stare straight at Tendou for a long moment, hands resting on the redhead’s knees.

“…Guy from work.” He lifted himself up to just hover over Tendou’s slumped form, shaking his arms out like he was about to do a set of weights. This made Tendou laugh again. Ushijima was never this strung up even when he was warming up for volleyball or a gym session. His movements moved with the low beat that was playing in the background still and Tendou wondered just how much more energy he had. Ushijima spun around and wandered a little more, stretching his arms trying to calm down but obviously enjoying himself. He ran a hand through his hair and then shook it out, turning to walk back to the couch. Tendou hadn’t moved a muscle and he watched the dim light glint off of where Ushijima’s shoulders had started sweating lightly. He sat a knee on the cushion and leaned over Tendou to look straight down at his face which was still against the couch pointed at the ceiling. “Let me suck you off.” His gaze was so serious but his pupils were blown wide. Tendou’s eyelids stayed low but his eyebrows raised high.

“That’s dirty man.”

“Shut the fuck up.” Ushijima immediately lowered himself to the floor in front of Tendou’s knees. “I’d ask you to do me but you’d probably go too slow or fall asleep or something.” Tendou let out a single laugh that was more like a note. Ushijima’s hands tugged at the pockets of his sweats and Tendou forced himself to lift his head to watch. This development was still relatively new but they’d had sex less than a handful of times before now so it wasn’t too surprising. It was kind of sad when he thought about the fact that they were always somewhat fucked up when they did this, but they were still best friends high and low so it didn’t really matter. Sometimes he wondered if Ushijima felt weird about it but then he went and did something like this and Tendou’s doubts dissipated.

“You’re not even gonna kiss me first?” Tendou joked and took a drag of the joint as Ushijima teased the fabric of his pants, trying not to look as impatient as he was feeling. He moved up suddenly and hovered his face close enough to Tendou’s that their noses almost brushed. After a moment he opened his mouth silently asking permission and Tendou followed, gently allowing the smoke he held to curl into the brunette’s waiting mouth. Ushijima breathed in and let his eyelids lower, bringing their lips together as the smoke lingered between them. When they parted they hovered waiting to see who would exhale first. Tendou smirked a little and opened his mouth so Ushijima could see the trails swirl around in place before the breath was let out above them. Ushijima followed suit and lowered himself back down not willing to waste anymore time.

Even though Tendou was smiling watching Ushijima pull his pants and underwear down to above his knees, it faltered when he gripped his dick and started mouthing it from the base. He let out a lazy sigh and pulled his eyebrows together. Those intense eyes met his and before he knew it Ushijima was swallowing him without any hesitance. He almost moved too quickly for Tendou’s clouded mind, and he thought for a moment Ushijima was probably working fast due to his own high, but Tendou forgot to care when the other took him in all the way. “Uh…” He let out a noise he might be embarrassed about later on and lolled his head back against the couch as Ushijima worked on him. He already felt like he wouldn’t last any longer; the tongue and lips on him were wet and slightly trembling. Ushijima deep throated him one time before pulling off. Tendou’s cheeks were flushed and he was quietly panting as he opened his eyes slightly. “You…I…” His brain was torn between whining to tell Ushijima not to stop and suggesting they get this show on the road.

“You want me to fuck you?” Ushijima was so serious Tendou wondered if he was just imagining this moment the only way his brain could make sense to. He nodded anyway, his relaxed body practically melting further into the couch if that were possible. He didn’t revel in the feeling long because Ushijima quickly stood and gripped him under his arms. Tendou felt so warm and pliable being spread out across the loveseat by Ushijima’s strong hands. They were both too tall to lay flat so Tendou did his best to lift his heavy legs to set on the arm rest. Ushijima pulled his bottoms the rest of the way off to make room and made his home between Tendou’s legs and pulled his sweaty shirt off.

Now Tendou could admit to himself that he never thought he’d be into watching a guy’s sweaty body hover over him, watching his chest rise and fall and his hands run along Tendou’s stomach. But Ushijima was a completely different case. Maybe it was because he was used to his friend’s presence and as their relationship evolved it was only natural he would find Ushijima hot. He was beginning to flush as well when the brunette leaned down with an open mouth, ready to work Tendou’s lips himself or meet him halfway, whichever he assumed Tendou was in the right mind to do. Their tongues met first and they licked at each other’s mouths slowly. Tendou assumed Ushijima was turned on by just this otherwise he wouldn’t be trying so hard to compose himself and go at a pace that wasn’t light speed. Tendou moved one of his hands to lightly anchor himself to Ushijima’s shoulder. He could feel the warmth of his skin under the initial coolness of the sheen and allowed a low sigh to escape between their lips. One thing he didn’t want to admit to himself was that a sweaty Ushijima was apparently a turn on as well, and while Tendou hadn’t thought of it as anything but normal for a guy and possibly kind of gross, he could only associate it now with Ushijima feeling good, whether it be from a workout, practice, sex, or a comfortable high that he was only willing to share with him.

Ushijima was leaning on one elbow over him, the other hand rubbing against his navel and pushing his shirt up. Tendou commanded his other hand to reach over and set what was left of the joint in the ashtray on the table so he could get to it. It wouldn’t do to have an obviously horny and itching Ushijima left to do all the work. Although the room was mostly dark the white from the TV helped Tendou focus his waving vision and glance down to where he almost forgot he was still exposed. He boldly rubbed his hand along Ushijima’s hard on through the joggers and smiled into the deep moan that reverberated against his bottom lip.

“You’re…” Tendou let out a breathy sigh between them when Ushijima rubbed down his navel and stroked his dick. “You’re not wearing underwear.” The redhead felt his neck get really hot thinking about it. Did Ushijima plan this ahead of time? Or did he just play his cards for whatever happened on it’s own?

“Yeah, I just wanted to get comfortable.” Ushijima gave him a look like he wanted to explain further but decided against it in favor of their current activities. Tendou could tell Ushijima was still strung out and he was having a hard time keeping up with their movements. The man above him worked quickly and Tendou was once again unprepared as his legs were lifted at the knees as Ushijima sat up and scooted forward, bumping the middle of Tendou’s ass with his clothed erection. Tendou watched with hooded eyes as Ushijima closed his and ground himself into Tendou, who let out a low noise and let his hands close lightly around the armrest pressing against his head, elbows in the air like he was about to do a pull-up. Ushijima’s abdomen undulated with his movements and Tendou wondered if they would even make it to the sex at all. The action slowed and he saw Ushijima run a shaky hand over his eyes down to his chin. “I’ll go get the stuff, hold on.”

Tendou sat up on his elbows once Ushijima was out of the room and took a breath. His high was far from wearing off and he ran a hand through his mussed hair before throwing off his tank top, completely nude. The speaker was still playing that American rap that he and Ushijima had made fun of before getting accustomed to it playing occasionally at a bar or friend’s car. It wasn’t so bad when it was on a low setting and it was fitting for their recreation anyways. He turned his head to follow Ushijima when he re-entered the living room with a condom and a lube bottle. He set them near Tendou’s side, pulled his pants off, and took his spot back between the now lightly sweating thighs. The apartment wasn’t really hot with the air conditioner on but just being in close proximity made them both even warmer.

Ushijima lubed Tendou up and stretched him out with unbelievable patience despite his almost unnoticeably shaky fingers. Tendou was incredibly relaxed and was thankful to enjoy the penetration more than the initial pain that came with it. He had been lightly stroking himself to keep his arousal up during the process and his dick twitched a little when he saw Ushijima roll the condom on himself. Before they had become physical on any level Tendou had experimented on his own only a few times. It was safe to say he liked it better when Ushijima did it to him because he could reach his spots so much easier. “Ready?”

“Y-yeah.” They both panted lightly and Ushijima lined himself up, slowly applying pressure so Tendou could adjust. Tendou breathed deeply through his nose and held onto the couch for support, ever grateful for the effects of the marijuana. He gasped when he felt the last push and Ushijima was all the way in. The long moan that came out of him was low and he felt his eyes roll up a little when Ushijima rocked slowly into him. “Ah, fuck.” Tendou ran his free hand over his face before grabbing hold of the couch again and looking down at what they were doing. This was the first time they had done it completely nude; it felt really dirty. Ushijima shifted and held Tendou’s hips up higher so his back was barely resting on the couch anymore.

As they sped up Tendou couldn’t do anything about his head bumping the couch arm above him and shifted his hand to soften the slight impact; that in itself though was pretty arousing, being mercilessly fucked into the couch. At some point Ushijima had set Tendou’s body back down in favor of leaning over him. His neck and arm muscles were straining to keep up the work. Tendou couldn’t keep his eyes open anymore and the few times he glanced up he could see that Ushijima’s were closed too, his brows tight in concentration. Ushijima’s hand snuck down to replace the one Tendou had on his dick.

“Are you close?” He asked and Tendou could only nod with closed eyes. “Tell me when.” Ushijima was panting much harder and Tendou could see he was trying not to come before his friend could get off. Their rhythm was starting to stutter but neither cared. Ushijima had been rubbing against Tendou’s prostate as they neared the end and he reached his hand up to cover his mouth with the back of his hand.

“Ah, I’m—“ He didn’t really feel the need to finish his statement and bit his hand lightly as Ushijima’s hand stroked a few more times. He let go onto his stomach and a few seconds after Ushijima slowed as well and let out a long moan. Tendou felt like he had melted, his arms flopped down next to him, the orgasm fading and leaving him with his still drugged mind. He sighed and opened his eyes to watch Ushijima lift himself up and pull out, carefully removing the condom.

“I have to pee.” He got up and left the room and even in his state Tendou could tell he was still itching even though he had just worked a lot of it off. He felt kind of drunk and now that he was more worn out than before all he wanted to do was sleep. He saw Ushijima come back into the room still naked with some toilet paper and a wet washcloth. He started to clean Tendou off who was still a motionless lump.

“H-hey, you don’t have to…”

“Don’t worry about it.” They made eye contact for a minute and Tendou yawned as Ushijima took care of the mess. “You should go pee too though, it’s not good to wait.”

“Ah, Wakatoshi you’re always looking out for me.” He laughed lazily and slowly forced himself to get up and go to the bathroom. His hair was an awful mess, some bangs falling in his face and the back scrunched around a little. He leaned against the wall a little as he relieved himself and Ushijima walked in through the open bathroom door. “Hey… I don’t think I can drive home.”

“That’s fine. I was going to suggest you stay over anyway.” Tendou moved to wash his hands and fleetingly wondered why the other was still nude. “My high peaked a while ago and I’m still a little strung out, but I could go to bed.” With that Tendou hummed in response and watched Ushijima walk across the hall and flop onto his bed face down very uncharacteristically. He must have turned everything off while Tendou was in the bathroom because when he walked out the only thing not completely dark was the bedside lamp that lit up Ushijima’s room.

“I, uh, need to clean up so I’ll be out in like, ten minutes.” He heard Ushijima hum and Tendou turned back around to start a quick shower. He didn’t really feel like taking the time to have one but he needed to clean the lube out and hopefully soothe some of the soreness that always came afterwards.

When he was done he entered Ushijima’s room and closed the door behind him, the apartment was now soothingly quiet and it was already almost two. The brunette was still in the same spot and Tendou chuckled a little when he pulled himself upwards on the bed to claim his side. Ushijima’s face looked tired when he flipped over to pull the covers out and situate himself underneath the sheets. Tendou turned his back to Ushijima when he pulled his towel off and dried his hair as much as possible, slicking it back and out of the way when he was done. He sat himself under the covers on his own side and reached to turn the lamp off. He heard Ushijima sigh and scoot around on his back until he was comfortable. The darkness was probably helping his mind finally relax because for Tendou it got rid of the constant dizziness.

He laid on his stomach and spread out a little along the queen sized bed, but remained conscious of invading Ushijima’s space. They had slept together before but never after sex, and it wasn’t awkward per se, but it was new and honestly they were both too tired to overthink it. They both knew Tendou would end up either half off the bed or in the middle so the fact that Ushijima still felt comfortable enough to stay undressed made Tendou feel a little better about where they stood on whatever this was between them. They were still best friends after the few times this had happened so they chalked it up to a mutual convenience and compatibility. Ushijima flipped over one last time to face away from Tendou who was already fading out. “Goodnight, Satori.”

“Night ‘Toshi.” He yawned as he spoke. “Thanks for letting me stay.”

“No problem.” The silence fell over them and their breathing slowed under the cool sheets.


	2. Simple Things

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Boring shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So remember how I said it was gonna be sad, heckin no my dudes I can’t not write romance apparently so I’m sorry if you wanted a darker fic. There will still be adult themes and stuff if that makes you happy cause my boys are grown men and whatnot.
> 
> In this chapter our chill dudes have a chill day. And maybe some feelings. Is “squee” still a thing?

Ushijima had crashed fast last night. The dose of MDMA he’d had wasn’t even a full one but he knew the hangover would be a bitch and that was part of the reason he had asked Tendou to stay over with him, among other things of course. If he was alone he knew for a fact he would just mope around all day until he decided if it was worth it to go work out or something. He rolled onto his stomach to see his friend still asleep on his face, his hair a mess and drooling on his pillow. Ushijima sighed and buried his nose into his own pillow. He felt like the whole world had just disowned him and although the rational part of his brain knew it was the hangover depressing him, it didn’t help his state and he began to mentally berate himself for knowing better. Tendou stirred next to him and he watched him rub his face around before slowly waking up. His arms snaked under the pillow and when his eyes opened to the dim blue light of the room. He sighed. 

“‘Toshi I don’t wanna wake up yet…” He whined quietly with a sleep rough voice and Ushijima just watched him.

“I didn’t wake you.” The pillow muffled him but he knew Tendou could hear him. He just groaned and flipped to face Ushijima. 

“Sure you did, I can feel your sulking.” He let out a breath and closed his eyes in defiance of that statement. Tendou yawned and ran a hand through his hair to tame it a little. “Man, it’s hot.” Tendou turned away and flipped the covers off of him as he sat up and swung his legs off his bedside. He stretched his arms up and Ushijima stared at the muscles moving on his back, remembering their tryst last night. He sighed and sunk further into the pillow. 

“I’m sorry that last night was so...impulsive? I hope I wasn’t too rough…”

“Ah, it’s fine,” Tendou looked at him from the side and smiled genuinely. “I liked it, I was just so out of it.” They dropped the subject and Tendou left to find his clothes out in the living room. When he came back wearing his sweatpants he made an exaggeratedly pitiful look towards Ushijima from the doorway. Ushijima pretended to ignore it but Tendou was highly perceptive and he knew exactly how Ushijima was feeling. “So I know you probably want to stay in bed all day Wakkun but you’re just going to feel worse. Get dressed so we can go get brea-- er…” he glanced at the bedside clock which read 12:45pm, “lunch.” He pulled his shirt on as he talked and went to sit back on the bed cross legged and looming. 

What a brat, Ushijima thought, making plans for him. But he complied silently, glad for Tendou’s caring nature. They could always count on each other for support and that’s probably why they had stayed friends for so long. He lifted himself up and turned around to face Tendou, the sheets pooling at his waist and he yawned, content to sit for a moment.

“Please, take your time.” There was a familiar mocking grin on his face and Ushijima rolled his eyes.

“I’m going to shower and we can go. There’s an extra toothbrush in the cabinet.” He heard Tendou move off the bed and follow him to the bathroom. Ushijima threw a towel over the shower bar and got in. He forced himself to meditate under the water and after a minute he heard the bathroom door shut. He felt guilty in a way for basically making Tendou take care of him but he also knew that if Tendou didn’t want to be here he would have left. 

He stepped out and dried off, leaving the door open to let it air out and headed back to the bedroom. Tendou was sitting there on his phone quietly. Ushijima decided on track pants so they were equally underdressed. 

“There's that diner down the road that serves breakfast all day if you want. I’ll drive.” Tendou shot him a grin as they grabbed their necessities and headed out the door. 

“Are you sure we’ll make it?” Tendou glared at him.

“Ha. Ha.” Ushijima made fun of Tendou’s red Hyundai every time they carpooled because he knew Tendou wouldn’t get truly mad at him for it. “I tell you every time: the 100,000 mile warranty is perfect and I don’t need anything crazy like your car! It’s brand new and those cars have gotten a lot better than they used to be!” Ushijima giggled as Tendou went on about how great his little car was. He was feeling a little better now just being out in the summer air under the sun. Sure it was hot but it was better than being cooped up. 

“My car isn’t crazy.”

“Your Acura spits noise like a fucking jaguar, don’t give me that Mr. I’m-going-to-rev-my-engine-at-a-stoplight-for-no-reason.” They buckled up and Tendou backed out of his space in the complex’s parking lot. The passenger’s seat was always pushed back to accommodate Ushijima’s legs and it rarely ever changed.

“At least I didn’t install subwoofers.”

“Fuck up.”

The diner was only a few streets down but the busy main roads made it difficult to walk anywhere in their city. They pulled into a little shopping center with a grocery store and a few surrounding shops. The diner was on the corner end and had large windows on all the outer facing walls. This atmosphere reminded Ushijima of when they had first moved here, both finding jobs after college that would have been too far to commute from Miyagi. Ushijima briefly wondered why they hadn’t been roommates but if he remembered correctly Tendou had been dating someone around that time. That aside, they were still close friends but senior theses and internships had taken a lot of their time and they only grew closer when they realized they would be heading for the same town. 

“Hi there, how many?” A really short girl in a pink waitress dress and apron greeted them and Tendou held up two fingers so they could be seated. She grabbed some menus and chose a booth by a window for them, and they thanked her as she ran off to get them waters. 

“So, read any good books lately?” Ushijima gave him a pretend annoyed look.

“No.” Tendou laughed heartily and busied himself with his menu. He always bounced in his seat when they ate somewhere and Ushijima figured he just had a high metabolism. The waitress came back with two waters and two coffees and they placed their order. 

“So last weekend, did I tell you about last weekend?” With the way Tendou sets himself up Ushijima can tell he’s about to do some complaining. He didn’t mind though, he was glad his friend could come to him with whatever problems he had. 

“Vaguely.” Ushijima stirred his coffee and watched Tendou place his arms on the table.

“I go to visit my sister right, and everything is grand. Next thing you know we’re fighting over, guess what, my ‘lifestyle’ choices. Blah, blah, blah, ‘you’re just like how dad used to be,’ she kicks me out! An hour down the highway at eleven at night I realize I left my laptop charger in her apartment and I have work to finish before the weekend is up.”

“So what did you do?” Ushijima wasn’t surprised at this turn of events because although Tendou was a rational person he could be insufferable sometimes, and his sister was the exact opposite of him.

“I worked the fucking weekend at the office until my new charger got delivered, but it sucked!” 

“I’m sorry. I’d let you borrow my computer but I know how picky you are.” Ushijima smirked at him.

“Please. Anyways I’d have to download the Creative Cloud and all my work files onto your PC, ew by the way, and it would be more trouble than just going back to the office.” He sighed. “I got it done though so it’s whatever, I just wish my sister would treat me like an adult. We’re 24 and college graduates, like what does she want? For me to stop smoking?” He trailed off.

“Well I can agree and disagree because honestly if we were only smoking it wouldn’t be as bad.” Ushijima knew he was an enabler and they both had bad habits.

“Health wise I would rather smoke than drink but she sees it the other way around.” Tendou waved his hand dismissively, already tired of the subject. The waitress came back with their food and asked if they needed anything else before walking away. Tendou’s smile returned as he looked down at his chocolate chip pancakes. Ushijima had settled for an omelet and rice. “That waitress is kind of cute Wakatoshi, you wouldn’t go after a nice girl like that?” Ushijima sipped his coffee calmly and stared at Tendou over his cup.

“Don’t say shit like that unless you want me to stop fucking you, Satori.” Tendou snorted and almost choked on his food as he tried to hold off laughing until he was done chewing. If Ushijima had learned anything in college it was how to be less socially awkward than he was in high school. He was still pretty quiet but he didn’t get as flustered and jokes didn’t fly over his head anymore. Tendou slapped a hand on the table a few times until he calmed down and breathed. 

“Wakkun you shouldn’t say things like that out loud.” He bumped his chest a few times and took a drink of his water. “Seriously though, I’m not here to tie you down…” Ushijima didn’t make eye contact with him preferring to cut his omelet more. Although it was out in the open the subject of their relationship wasn’t something they had discussed yet. It was just something that happened and kept happening. It felt natural and Ushijima didn’t want to be the one to bring it up since it wasn’t a problematic situation in his opinion. Although he didn’t know exactly how Tendou felt, he was comfortable assuming that Tendou would be pretty open about it if it became a problem. He pointed his utensil at the redhead.

“You go talk to her then. You did say she was cute.” Tendou rolled his eyes.

“I mean she seemed like your type. I like tall blondes.” Tendou smiled and continued to eat his pancake. Ushijima drank some of his water. “Although... you aren’t very blonde my friend.” He winked. Ushijima sighed. 

“I don’t think I have a type.”

“I mean you dated girls in college. You must have some kind of subconscious serial instinct that links them together?”

“They were all smart I guess. Kind of artsy most of the time. Extroverts.” Ushijima thought about it.

“Oh ‘cause you’re an introvert so you like the opposite?”

“I suppose.” They finished eating and split the bill. “What should we do now?” Ushijima was feeling a lot better after having eaten and Tendou’s company was really all he could ask for to keep the fading hangover on its steady decline.

“What do normal adults do at two o’clock on a Saturday?” Tendou held the door open and Ushijima nodded in thanks. “I feel too old to go dicking around at the mall or something. We should be like, doing our taxes or investing our salaries in stock.” He made a mock disgusted face and they stayed put on the shaded part of the sidewalk. Ushijima felt like if they went back to one of their apartments they would end up getting bored and having a repeat of last night. Which wasn’t all bad but he’d rather not get high again for at least another week. That and if he told Tendou he wanted to stay in he would just worry about him. He looked around and his eyes widened only enough for Tendou to see if he was facing him. 

“We could go pet dogs.”

“Eh? You mean at that little pet supply store?” Tendou gave him a funny look and pointed a few shops down from where they were. “Do they even have pets there?”

“If they don’t we can just leave.”

“Now that I think about it I need to pick up a few things for home so we can make our way down the complex.” They walked down the sidewalk and through the little automatic doors of the pet store. The first things they noticed was a standing bulletin with adoption information for cats and dogs. 

“Welcome! If you need help with anything let me know!” A chipper cashier greeted them and went back to whatever he was ticketing. Ushijima let out a “thanks” as Tendou headed for the far wall where there was a room blocked off by holed plexiglass. There were only three pens inside, one empty, one containing two: a fluffy yellow and black lab, and one with a blue-heeler pup.

“Oh, they’re so cute! I want oneeee.” Tendou pouted and pressed his hands on the window.

“Would you boys like to play with them?” Ushijima turned around and a middle aged woman with a clipboard was smiling at them. He nodded.

“Of course.” She walked over briskly and opened the door on the side, the blue-heeler immediately standing to poke his head above his pen to sniff at the guests.

“They will probably squirm if you try to hold them but they are all friendly so you can let them out of the pens if you want. We try to give them enough playtime and human interaction until they find homes.”

“Thank you.” They stepped over to the puppies that had been alerted by the talking and were all wagging their tails hard enough to move their whole little bodies. Tendou was off in his own world swooning over them. Ushijima forced himself to have more self control. 

“Are you two thinking about adopting?” 

“Unfortunately no, but hopefully someday.” Ushijima ignored the implication behind the conversation and laughed a little in his head.

“Well when you’re done here just poke your head out. I’ll be right outside.” She left the top half of the door open and closed the bottom so the dogs wouldn’t get out when released. 

“Are you okay? And I thought I was the dog lover.” He opened the pen with the labs and Tendou opened the other one. The puppies gathered at their legs instantly and jumped and sniffed.

“Who isn’t a dog lover?” He crouched onto the floor mat and let the puppies smother him and he giggled. Ushijima lifted the yellow lab up like a baby and let it lick his nose. It squirmed a little and he supported it’s butt. It’s big brown eyes just stared at him and he stared back. 

“What did we do to deserve dogs?” Tendou sighed in response and let himself snuggle up to the puppies on the floor. Ushijima took a seat on the bench against the wall. Tendou grabbed a toy rope and slid it across the floor and the dog in Ushijima’s lap got suddenly restless. He let it down and they both watched the three play fight over the toy.

It had been about thirty minutes and Ushijima was seriously starting to consider taking all three of them home to his small apartment. “We should probably go before we get too attached.” Tendou stood up. How was he the voice of reason after all of that fawning he was doing earlier? Ushijima nodded and they gave the puppies a few goodbye tousles. The woman from earlier let them out and took their spots to put the dogs on leashes to take them outside.

“Come again!” They headed back to the front of the store and the cashier from earlier was talking to another coworker. Tendou heard a whisper of “there he is!” and stopped to acknowledge them. Ushijima turned also and the guy looked at him kind of nervously.

“Hey, um, y-you have amazing eyebrows!” The girl next to him nodded vigorously, patting her coworker (who also had noticeably perfect filled-in brows) on the back in support. Ushijima turned to face them all the way and bowed slightly.

“Thank you.” Tendou squawked behind him. 

“So polite!” They left the store and he was blabbing on about people and their weird attention to detail.

“You’re pretty detail oriented yourself you know.” Tendou looked at him from the side as they walked.

“Isn’t it highly attentive of you to know that?” He accused Ushijima with a flick of his wrist.

“I’m your best friend, if I hadn’t picked that up by now I would hardly know you at all.” Tendou had to give him that.

“Touche. Well with our jobs we have to be that way.” They entered the next stop through even larger automatic doors, the grocery store. There were significantly more people here and Tendou grabbed a cart to lean on as they started near the baked goods. “I kind of want a dessert for later but I really don’t need it…” They moved from bread to wine, and across was the beer selections. Tendou’s phone pinged in his pocket and he looked mildly surprised.

“I am mildly surprised. Wakatoshi is it bad that I’m surprised someone bothered to text me at all?” He hmphed and made an exaggerated pouting face as he unlocked his phone. Ushijima just laughed through his nose and turned around to browse the wine. “Whoa, hey, Goshiki is in town visiting some cousins and he wants to hang out tonight! You think you’ll be too tired?” He nudged Ushijima and the joking smile was replaced with a genuine one. 

“I’m sure I’ll be fine. Sounds like fun.”

“Nice, I’ll tell him we can make it and get a time from him.” He pushed the cart forward and they headed down the far aisle near the cold items. Tendou hummed. “All I really need from here is toothpaste and some body soap… oh and a doormat, I’ve been meaning to get one for the outside.” They headed for the personal hygiene aisle and pass a bunch of feminine products before they reached what they needed. 

Tendou was busy opening every bottle of liquid soap and sniffing it to see if he liked it. Ushijima leaned against the basket and his eyes fell to a small section of shelf with condoms, lubricants, pregnancy tests, and the like. This was something he didn’t plan on even thinking about until it was in front of him again, but there it was and he would prefer to be alone to purchase any. Should he even be planning for this kind of thing? He looked at Tendou’s back and then back to the shelf. He wanted to ask if they needed this stuff but was it really appropriate? They weren't dating or anything but if they did it again at any point in the future shouldn't they have some on hand? Wait, was it his job to buy them since they had yet to switch roles at all? 

Ushijima felt like he was having a mini crisis with all the questions going through his head, the looming one being just what they were besides friends and if it was right to assume they would be doing it again. Each time (now three times to be exact) had been a matter of convenience and intoxication. Neither of them had really initiated anything sexual outside of those few instances. 

“What do you think of this one?” He snapped out of his reverie at those words and the open soap bottle that was put up to his nose against his will. Tendou squeezed the bottle just barely enough to blow air out of it and Ushijima sniffed a little. 

“That one is fine. Not very strong.”

“Yeah, the strong ones make me sneeze in the shower.” He looked back up from the soap and threw it in the basket with the toothpaste. “Did you need anything?” Ushijima forced himself not to look at the shelf and nodded no. They walked to the self checkout and he watched Tendou scan the items and struggle with the robot telling him there was an unexpected item in the bagging area. “Dammit!” He took the bag off the scale and was able to check out. Ushijima grabbed the receipt and they wheeled the cart to its home.

“You pushed a shopping cart around for two items?”

“I like to lean on it, don’t judge me.”

“Lazy ass.” They made their way back out into the warm air and they were both dreading how hot the car would be. Tendou unlocked it once they got closer.

“I should probably change my clothes at some point if we’re going out tonight.” Tendou laughed a little and swung the bag back and forth. “Goshiki said they’re going to play pool around eight so we have some time until then.” Ushijima assumed Tendou would take him home and they would meet up later but it seemed like he still didn’t want to leave him alone. 

“I can get some clothes and then we’ll go to your place so you can get ready. I probably won’t drink much tonight so I can drive if you want.”

“You’re such a pal Wakkun!” He patted Ushijima’s shoulder before he went around to his side of the car. “I’ll try not to get too sauced or else I’ll feel like I’m taking advantage of your offer.”

“Well it’s an offer I wouldn’t mind you taking advantage of, I just want you to get home safe.” They buckled up and Tendou looked at him quietly for a moment before starting through the parking lot. 

“I’m really thankful to have you as my friend Wakatoshi.” He glanced at his mirrors and looked both ways before turning onto the main road, a thoughtful look on his face. Ushijima watched him and then looked out his window at the passing trees on the median.

“Likewise.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Most of the conversations in this chapter are just things that have happened to me lol. When you have thick eyebrows there is an experience where other people with thick eyebrows will bond with you. Such is life.
> 
> Next chapter we’ll get to see more internal struggling, yay!
> 
> P.S. is Ushijima liking dogs a meme? Idk but I’m using it.


	3. For All We Know

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tendou drinks too much and Ushijima wonders what's wrong with himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wut, how did this become so long already, all I wanted was a smut and lookie here a third chapter. Yes I am just avoiding school work, don’t give me that.
> 
> I’m pretty sure adults do things like have fancy bowls just for their keys and such. And I'm not naming every extra/supporting character I make up because I’m just too lazy to keep giving everyone dialogue unless necessary.

Ushijima walked out of Tendou’s room having changed into something a little nicer. Tendou had showered and dressed first and was waiting on his sofa. “Man you’re wearing a button down? Why didn’t you tell me? Now I feel inadequate.” He whined and got up to check himself in the long mirror hanging by the entryway. He had on a nice V-neck that was still new so the black wasn’t faded yet and gray pants, but Ushijima’s nice navy shirt and jeans seemed more dressy.

“You look fine. This is the only nice shirt I had that wasn’t dirty or meant for work.” Tendou hummed and grabbed his sleeve-striped track jacket because he knew the bar would be freezing from the air conditioning. Ushijima picked his keys from the bowl Tendou kept next to the table lamp and they headed outside.

“Shit, I forgot to buy a doormat.” Tendou pouted. He should have realized it when he got made fun of for using the basket earlier but it completely slipped his mind. Oh well. Ignoring weird subjects at the store really took over mental priorities, especially when your best friend with benefits is spacing out with a strange look on his face. At the time it was just easier to feign oblivion towards the shelves Ushijima was blatantly staring at. It’s not that he didn’t want to talk about it, but they were literally fine as they were. If Tendou could avoid making things awkward between them then he would because so far things had been great, and their friendship hadn’t suffered one bit. If he wanted to admit anything to himself he might say the circumstances have made them even closer, but that was a little much for his mind to wrap around at the moment.

When they got downstairs Tendou got comfortable in Ushijima’s car and they made their way down the road. “What’s the cover charge?” Tendou thought for a moment.

“Well it’s Saturday but it is before ten so probably like five dollars. You have cash?” Ushijima nodded. When they arrived they were ID’d and charged and they could see Tsutomu and two others they hadn’t met yet playing pool. The bar was almost full and there were only one or two tables not in use. There was a smoky smell but it wasn’t overbearing and fluorescent lights in pretty lamps hung above each table. Tendou caught Tsutomu’s eye and he waved excitedly. “Goshiki!” He held his arms out to his junior and long time friend. He ran up to them and leapt at Tendou.

“Tendou-san, Ushijima-san! It’s been too long!” They greeted each other and Tsutomu introduced them to his cousins. The table next to theirs cleared and they took advantage of the playing space.

“So how's college treating you?” Tendou lined up his shot as he spoke.

“Well. It's stressful but I only have a year left! I start my summer classes this week though so I figured I'd do fun stuff before the work load hits.” Goshiki smiled and checked his aim before shooting. Ushijima stepped up to take his turn at Cutthroat before the other two skipped him by accident.

“Which set is mine?” He counted the billiards on the table.

“Mids.” Tendou pointed to the the ones numbered 6 through 10.

“So Goshiki, are you still majoring in biology?” Ushijima couldn't remember if he had ever changed his mind or not.

“Yeah! Well, bioengineering. My professors say I'm very enthusiastic about it but I'm like that with anything I'm good at.” He smiled and his eyes sparkled in the light. Tendou grinned at him.

“Ah, Goshiki you're still the same. And your bangs are perfect as always.” Goshiki gave an excited thanks and rubbed the back of his blushing neck. “You guys want drinks?” Tendou pulled out his wallet. “I might open a tab.”

“Oh shit, Satori’s opening a tab.”

“Shut it ‘Toshi!” Ushijima smirked. “I just figured I'd get a round and then if I want another it'll be easier this way.”

“You're gonna get plastered.”

“I am _not_ going to get _plastered_.” Tendou put air quotes up for emphasis.

“You can't just use air quotes for everything.” Tendou put his hand up to show Ushijima he was now ignoring him.

“Goshiki, what do you guys want to drink?” Tsutomu and his cousins agreed on sharing the Saturday night special: a well priced pitcher of Long Island Iced Tea, and Ushijima asked for whichever beer was on the special as well. Tendou went up to the bar counter and held up his card. “Can I start a tab under Tendou?” She took his card.

“What'll it be?”

“The pitcher special, one, uh…” the two dollar beers were Bud Light tonight but if he had to guess Ushijima would prefer a Heineken. “Heineken, and a vodka cranberry.”

“How many glasses on the pitcher?” She got to work as they spoke and Tendou held up three fingers. Tsutomu appeared beside him and smiled.

“Thanks for this round. I can get the next one if you want.” Tendou waved his hand in front of his face.

“Don't worry about it, I'm on salary pay now.” He laughed. “Adults don't let cute college students buy their own alcohol.” Tsutomu blushed and was unable to form words as Tendou laughed at him, grabbing their drinks and motioning for Tsutomu to get the pitcher. Ushijima took his beer and thanked Tendou, glancing at the huge poster on the wall that read the special was absolutely not Heineken.

The night went on and after Tendou's third well Ushijima took it upon himself to close his tab, picking up a water for him so he wouldn't pout. Apparently Tsutomu was even more of a lightweight than Tendou, and his cousins were giving him a hard time over it, one of them still incredibly sober despite the finished pitcher. Noticing some people they knew at another table had preoccupied them for a while and the other three used this time to catch up instead of constantly rotating games.

“You missed again Tendou-senpai.” Tsutomu’s words were drawn out as he and Tendou laughed over their inability to keep playing the game seriously. Ushijima had only drunk two beers and was enjoying watching his friends fail miserably and stumble around the pool table. Tsutomu leaned far over the table to hit a difficult shot, concentrating as hard as possible.

“Huh, what a nice view _Goshiki_.” Tendou smacked him playfully on the ass and Tsutomu botched the shot and bounced the cue ball off the table. Ushijima rolled his eyes at Tendou’s antics but couldn’t help the odd feeling he got seeing the two being so friendly.

“T-Tendou-san! That’s so embarrassing!” Tsutomu spun around smacked Tendou’s arm but ended up losing his balance and leaning on him. Tendou was just laughing at this point. They were both flushed and Ushijima wondered if it was almost time to get them home before they became too much to handle.

“I’m so sad my own kouhai won’t even call me Satori!” Tendou wrapped his arms around Goshiki and let some crocodile tears well up in his eyes. “Wakkun can you believe that?”

“It’s believable.”

“So mean!” The two parted and decided to join Ushijima at their small high top table, giving up on their game. Tendou scooted his stool closer to him while Goshiki used this opportunity to rest his arms on the table. “So how come you haven’t shown me any pictures of your college sweetheart? You can’t leave us out of the loop just because we live far away!”

“Us?” Ushijima raised an eyebrow.

“Hush.”

“Sweetheart? Hmm, you’re assuming things Tendou-san, I’m focusing on my studies.” But did Tsutomu’s face get redder? Tendou examined him through his blurry vision and rolled his eyes dramatically.

“You mean to tell me you’re almost done and you haven’t even dated anyone? There’s tons of hot people in college, right Wakatoshi?” Ushijima just nodded and Tendou flopped his arms on the table and started spewing off things about failing as a father figure, but he slurred the last bit and decided to reel himself back in.

“W-well, I guess I have been talking to someone but it hasn’t really gotten anywhere.” Tsutomu fidgeted a little in his seat and pressed his palms together.

“Spill, spill!”

“You’re so nosy.” Ushijima poked Tendou’s cheek scoldingly and he just continued to pout.

“I mean I don’t think I would even consider it ‘talking’ since we don’t even go to the same university…”

“Oh my god just tell me! Do I know them?”

“Why would you know them?” Ushijima had better encourage them to wrap things up before Tendou started getting too emotional over their friend’s love life.

“Actually...I mean I know Kenjirou-san and I didn’t really seem to get along in high school but he’s mellowed out some and…” Ushijima and Tendou both stared wide eyed at him and couldn’t help the simultaneous outburst.

“Shirabu?!”

“Y-yes! He’s graduating in the fall and he said he’s been wanting to see me and...and I think it could go somewhere. Maybe.” Tsutomu’s face was completely red and he put his hands to his cheeks to help cool them off. Tendou whooped and clapped a hand on his shoulder.

“Well I’m glad to hear things are going well enough!” He sighed and leaned against Ushijima’s shoulder, hugging his arm slightly. “What a thing young love is.” Ushijima wasn’t sure if Tendou was even aware of their closeness at this point and he noticed Tsutomu look between them questioningly.

“Tendou-san you’re such a people-person but you haven’t mentioned dating anyone either, so are you two like...?” Tsutomu leaned onto the table and put his chin in his palm, giving a vague motion with his other hand.

“Oh, what us? Nah…” Tsutomu gave them both a look and Ushijima wondered if he even suspected anything more from them.

“Ushijima-san?” Tsutomu was staring at the spot where Tendou’s eyes were closed and his cheek was pressed against Ushijima’s shoulder.

“No, Satori and I are focused on our work.” Tsutomu nodded and dropped the subject. Ushijima didn’t elaborate on their current circumstances but realized the lack of information probably made him more curious.

“So did--” Tsutomu paused and rubbed his face before continuing. “Sorry, did you two ever end up rooming together since you live in the same town now?” Ushijima answered him. They both looked like they were about to pass out.

“No, my office in the opposite direction from his and we haven’t really thought about that since it’s only been a year.” Tendou wobbled in his seat and clutched tighter at Ushijima’s arm to balance himself.

“...A year?”

“Since we graduated.”

“Oh, right.” Tsutomu let out a large yawn and that’s about when his family members decided to return.

“It was nice meeting you guys but I think I should probably get Satori home.” They bid their goodbyes and Tendou and Tsutomu shared a wobbly hug. “Drive safe.” Tendou held onto Ushijima’s arm as they exited the bar and he steadied him around his waist.

“I knew you were going to get wasted.”

“Pfft no you didn’t.”

“I did though.” Tendou hummed as if he were trying to remember.

“ _Sure_ you did.” They made their way around the corner of the building to where Ushijima’s car was. “Shit!” Tendou missed the step off the curb and stumbled but Ushijima saw it coming and caught him. He giggled and flung his arms around Ushijima’s neck half jokingly and pressed them against the passenger’s side door. “My hero!”

“You’re so drunk Satori, I thought you were going to pace yourself.”

“I’m really bad at that though…” Tendou rubbed his forehead against Ushijima’s collar and put all of his weight into the other man’s hold.

“You’re also really bad at keeping your hands to yourself.” He meant that teasingly but the look Tendou gave him was weary and he leaned back a little to stand on his own feet, but not enough to let go.

“Is this because I touched Goshiki’s butt and called him cute? I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable…”

“No, I wasn’t accusing you, I just meant like right now.” He didn’t remember Tsutomu getting called cute at any point. Ushijima may have felt a bit weird about that while they were still in the bar but there was no way he was letting on. It wasn’t his place to feel that way and he couldn’t even reason his feelings with himself at the moment anyway.

“Oh…” Now Tendou was running through his own thoughts a little faster. He didn’t want to admit he hoped Ushijima was feeling a little possessive of him. “Well it’s partially your fault since you’ve conditioned me to want things when we’re under the influence.” He pressed his face into Ushijima’s shoulder and leaned on him again.

“Well _I’m_ not under the influence and I’m taking you home before you pass out on me.” He pushed off of the car and opened the door so Tendou could flop into his seat.

“I’m still going to pass out on you when we get home.”

“Well I suppose I can’t leave you there alone in case you get sick and die.” Tendou made a “pfft” noise and leaned his seat back to rest his eyes. The drive was quiet and Ushijima let Tendou doze off and hopefully begin his journey to sobriety. Thankfully Tendou was fine enough that Ushijima didn’t have to carry him up three flights of stairs to his apartment. He did however take the caboose to make sure if Tendou stumbled again he didn’t end up falling down the stairs.

“Don't look at my ass on the way up.” Tendou sluggishly climbed the stairs and held a hand up behind him playfully.

“If you tell me not to my brain is going to do it anyway.” He fived Tendou's hand and pushed on his butt a little so he would hurry up. As they ascended Ushijima wondered just how much of their banter was merely friendly and how much of it had intimate intent behind it. Before all of this the whole acting gay thing with your friends was common and some of his acquaintances from college made him no exception. They both knew that, but with this recent development it was like they were suspended in motion until the next time one of them initiated something. If Ushijima could make a guess Tendou was probably thinking the same thing. When they reached his door Tendou had to focus all of his energy on getting the key in the door but Ushijima didn't take over so Tendou could keep some of his pride. He shot his friend a lazy scowl.

“Don't laugh at me.”

“I wasn't!” Ushijima held his hands up innocently and held back the laugh threatening to come out. Tendou hiccuped and laughed at that, stepping inside and flicking the hall light on. He stopped abruptly to take his shoes off and Ushijima bumped into him, sending him to lean on the wall for support. “Sorry, damn you are so drunk. Hurry up so you can go to bed.” Tendou whined something incoherent at him and they stepped out of the way so the door would shut. Ushijima locked it and followed Tendou to his room where he flopped onto his back on the bed.

“Ah shit I have to pee but I'm so comfy…”

“Please get up and go cause I'm not sleeping in here if you wet the bed.” Tendou threw himself upwards and unbuckled his belt as he walked out and toward the bathroom.

“In all my years I will never be drunk enough to do that Wakatoshi!” He had a sour face and Ushijima smiled and crossed his arms as Tendou shut the bathroom door. He continued to yell through it and Ushijima started to unmake the bed. “I can't believe you'd suggest something like that! Do you think that lowly of me?” He heard a flush and Tendou came back out with his pants still unzipped. He looked like a mess. Ushijima didn't answer and just waited for Tendou to quit pouting. He sat on the end of the bed and took his socks off with a sigh. Tendou laid himself over the spot Ushijima made for him with his clothes still on.

“You can't sleep in your jeans dummy.” Ushijima pulled his button down off to reveal the gray beater underneath.

“Sure I can.”

“Just get undressed and you can go to sleep.”

“Heh, I dunno how.” Tendou looked down the bed to Ushijima who gave him an unamused look. He sighed and abruptly stood up, grabbing the sides of Tendou’s pants and yanking them down.

“Ah Wakkun be gentle with me!” Tendou burst into laughter.

“Shut up.” He pulled the bottom cuffs over the redhead’s feet and threw them on the floor along with his socks. Tendou sighed and rolled over onto his stomach to smash his face into the pillow.

“Ugh I drank too much.”

“Oh you just noticed?” Tendou groaned and Ushijima left the room to turn off the lights. He closed the bedroom door and pulled off his own jeans in the dark before laying down himself. “Scoot over.”

“Nooooo…” Ushijima “tsked” and pushed Tendou to his side. He set his phone on the bedside table and flipped to face the middle. It was silent for a while and Ushijima was sure Tendou had passed out right away until he spoke quietly. “Thank you ‘Toshi…. you're my best friend ever.” He was still slurry and Ushijima smiled.

“You're my best friend too.” He sighed. “Even though you’re a pain in the ass.” Tendou hummed happily and he nuzzled into the comforter.

“Hold me Wakatoshi.”

“Fuck no, are you even still drunk?” Tendou snickered and rolled over.

“A little.”

“Goodnight.”

“Night.”

The air conditioner kicked on for the upteenth time as Ushijima wavered in and out of sleep. He was restless, tired enough but he couldn't fully fall asleep. He stared at Tendou’s back for a moment and stuck his elbow under his pillow. This was ridiculous. His mind was running around full of nothing; meaningless conversations he'd had this week, some stupid article online, work, but mostly of how they had basically spent the whole weekend together. They had seen each other almost every week since they had settled into their own living spaces but this was the first time they had really dedicated the whole weekend to hanging out and actually seeing friends.

Tendou groaned a little in his sleep and rolled onto his back. He was going to pay for tonight when he woke up. Ushijima sighed again and flipped over to reach for his phone. He winced when his arm felt stiff and sore. Being a support to his friend on and off tonight had taken a toll on his left shoulder and he hadn’t realized it would affect his injury so much. For the most part it was healed but even a too stressful workout would leave it feeling overused. He pushed his pillow around so he could sit up and pulled the covers up around him as much as possible. It would be most responsible to check up on their worksheets and make sure any work pushed to next week would get done first thing Monday, but it was already three in the morning and if the world thought he was asleep then he would be. Ushijima opened his spider solitaire app and played until his eyes got heavy. He felt an arm hit him lightly and he flipped it off of him and repositioned onto his stomach.

When Ushijima woke up again his phone had locked itself and two of Tendou’s limbs were sprawled across him under the blanket. He was too lazy to move them though and dozed off for what seemed like only a few minutes. The mattress shifted under him and there was a hard thump and a curse at the door. He looked behind him at the clock on the far wall above the desk and it was already around six. He heard the toilet flush and opened his eyes just in time to see Tendou stumble back into bed.

“You can’t still be drunk…” His voice was incredibly sleep rough and Ushijima let his eyes close again.

“Apparently I can be. You’ve never woken up still drunk?” Tendou shifted a little closer to steal Ushijima’s warmth and rested on his back with the covers up to his nose.

“Maybe once when I was younger.”

“It’s not like I’m really drunk but my brain hasn’t caught up and I got really dizzy.”

“Did you throw up?”

“No, just had to pee really bad.” He curled the comforter around him more and invaded Ushijima’s pillow space. Tendou looked around the dim gray room and they heard a rumble of thunder start off in the distance. He took a deep breath but ended up yawning in the process. “Guess it’s gonna rain all day today. Did I drunk text anyone?”

“I don’t know, who would you text?”

“Hmm...you probably.” He sounded very intent on going back to sleep and Ushijima didn’t say a word. That sounded pretty agreeable to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Am I too obsessed with time stamping everything? Maybe I shouldn’t have brought that to your attention. Writing detailed and miniscule action is fun for me so I’m sorry if it bores you. Is this story boring by the way? I want to hurry up and let them have more feelings and do cute coupley stuff but I like the build up, gaaaah.


	4. Island

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lazy day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm dying for cheesy romance in this story man but I am gonna make myself work for it -.- sorry for the flashback setup, I don't ever put those in my stories, but if I didn't have it we'd be reading them watching fucking tv all day; my goal for each chapter is around 3,000 words? Idk.
> 
> Btw I don't really do drugs so don't be surprised if my descriptions aren't A1 aight? I do however enjoy myself a nice mixer a few times a week and I feel like Tendou and I would be great drinking pals lol. 
> 
> The song Island by Wet makes me think of this chapter. Also I made art for this because I like minimalist design and wanted to try and incorporate it! I wish I could make better fan art but I never have time ;-;

“Did you check the weather?” Ushijima sat himself at the small dining room table across from Tendou, coffee in his hand.

“Hm, well from what I heard it's supposed to rain.” A loud crack of thunder resonated over them and Ushijima didn't look like he appreciated Tendou's sarcasm.

“I meant for the rest of today.” He pulled his phone out and checked the weather app, noting that the storm wouldn't pass until later in the week. They had woken up again to the sound of heavy rain and decided to make some coffee and enjoy it. Ten in the morning was surprisingly early considering how wasted Tendou had been. Tendou had let Ushijima borrow some sweats to lounge in and the living/dining room was just as dark as it was at six this morning. They had the TV on low and the oven light was on but it was admittedly cozy.

“Ah, I could go back to bed. It was so sunny yesterday.” Tendou closed his eyes and leaned his chin on his hand. “You have any work to get done? I haven't done shit but you can use my laptop if you need to.” Ushijima ran a hand through his hair.

“Thanks but I can go through the sheets on my phone if I have to. Once I reorganize the week’s itinerary I'll be good until tomorrow. It'll take like ten minutes.” Despite this he set his phone down, intent on ignoring his responsibilities and took another drink of his coffee. Both their phones broke the silence and Tendou jumped a little.

“Seriously? I guess we won’t be driving anywhere today.” The emergency alert systems showed flash floods until four.

“Just another excuse to procrastinate.” Ushijima smiled and Tendou set his phone down.

“Wanna watch a movie?” He got up and went across the room to peek out of the vertical blinds that covered his balcony glass. “At least the parking lot is a little higher up so our cars are safe.” Ushijima put their cups in the sink and walked over to the couch to throw a blanket over himself. Tendou grabbed the remote and made a spot next to him, stealing half the blanket and tucking it over his shoulder. They browsed through the selection and Ushijima made a “Netflix and chill” joke. Tendou laughed and they agreed on a drama/comedy. “It's not Netflix and chill unless you plan to not watch the movie.” Ushijima felt one of the unspoken questions between them rise up in his mouth but ultimately decided not to say anything and the movie started.

Tendou scooted in and let their shoulders press together. The movie was weird. This guy was raising his kids in the forest and Tendou just wondered what would cause someone to actually do that. Sure he had said he would move to the wilderness himself plenty of times, but actually leaving society wasn’t an option for most people. Part way through he realized it must have been mistakenly put under comedy because it wasn't funny at all. It was sad as hell. He felt a weight on him and realized Ushijima had fallen asleep and his head was resting against Tendou's. He smiled a bit and shifted so Ushijima was supported by his shoulder.

The rain was still pelting hard outside and Tendou just stared at the cracks in his blinds. This whole weekend had been great and he briefly wondered how soon they could do it again. Neither of them had a reason to stay over again tonight and Tendou couldn't help the small pang of disappointment he felt at the idea of sleeping in his bed alone. That thought itself should be weird to him but it wasn't honestly very surprising. It's not like they wouldn't hang out again next weekend, or maybe even grab dinner during the workweek, but this development was giving him feelings he thought he would be able to ignore for much longer. A lot of their back and forth had felt restrained because if Tendou was honest with himself, the idea of crawling back into bed with Ushijima and maybe doing a little less sleeping was gaining more and more appeal. He felt a little stupid about it because he had just had him two nights ago, but still.

He knew for a fact that Ushijima wasn't as dense as he was in high school and if their time spent together was an issue he would have put it out on the table before they could become any more mindful of where they stood. They had learned early on that their friendship was something that could withstand a lot of weight and after their first time together that had still proven true. Nothing had changed and it was all Tendou could ask for. Until now that is. That night almost two months ago was replaying itself in his head and he wondered if he'd had these subconscious feelings all along.

_“I'm so sorry, I should really take her home.” The pretty girls they had brought to Tendou's apartment were probably a year younger than them at most, one of them an intern in another branch of the company Tendou worked for. The shorter of the two had gotten sick and Ushijima being the gentleman he was brought her some water while her friend held her hair back. Tendou felt honestly bad because she said she was fine when they left the club with them that night. The girls had brought some E with them and Tendou was more than happy to try it out. Ushijima had told them it wasn't safe to try stuff like that in such a crowded place, and offered them Tendou's apartment to hang out because it was closer. That smooth bastard knew how to talk too because Tendou was not oblivious to his intentions even though he seemed innocent. They were both grown men and if these women liked them enough then the night would have been a success._ _The poor girl had gotten sick though and as best friends do they travel in twos. Her friend told them how she would have liked to stay but she couldn't soundly with her friend in such a state, apologized, and said they could keep the drugs. Tendou walked them down to her car and told them to be safe. When he walked back in he sighed and shut the door behind him, watching Ushijima push the coffee table aside. “You still wanna trip even though they left?” Tendou had hoped a little for this but wasn't sure._ _“I mean it's now or never and I'm not tired.” Tendou took a seat on the floor next to his friend and after they took it they leaned against the couch and waited._ _“Have you done this before?” Tendou could feel his heart rate increasing._  

_“Just once.” The feeling was indescribable. The carpet under his fingers was making them feel like they were falling asleep and his clothes felt really restrictive, but it also felt good, like he was being held onto. After a few minutes he looked over at Ushijima who was running his hands over his face._  

_“Are you okay?” Ushijima looked at him, his eyes darting around his face. He reached a hand up to Tendou’s hair and ran his fingers through it. Tendou held back a laugh._

  _“Your hair is so soft.” The last word was broken by a laugh and Ushijima continued to pet Tendou’s head and smile at how weird he was being. After that it was like an ever forming tidal wave came crashing down, and they were on the floor. Tendou hovered over Ushijima and the other man’s hands were now running wildly through his hair. They didn’t really kiss much at first because, although by this time they were deep into the effects of the drugs, they still understood what they were doing. It felt way too good though and Ushijima hadn’t held anything back that night._

~~

Tendou turned his attention back to the movie, not really caring for what all he had missed. At the time it had been a while since either of them had taken a partner, Tendou not really willing to get into another relationship since they were still in a new town, and Ushijima not generally interested because of work. He had thought that first time would be the only time and they had both accepted that, but a drunken rendezvous a few weeks later proved otherwise. Tendou had thought his senses had been heightened because of the Ecstasy, but damn if the second time wasn’t just as good. Now they were spending the weekend together and since they had done it again at Ushijima’s place, Tendou couldn’t help but feel that they were extremely compatible. He wondered what it would be like to do it without the help of an intoxicating median. Ushijima shifted in his sleep and his head nodded off of its post, startling him awake. Tendou smiled.

“Sorry, what did I miss?”

“Nothing really. This movie is super depressing.”

“Change it then.” He rubbed his eyes and repositioned himself to be more comfortable.

“Well I kind of want to see how it ends.” Ushijima just hummed and leaned his head back on Tendou’s shoulder.

“I guess that tropical storm is going to give us rain all week. Don’t forget to fill up your car.” Tendou chuckled quietly. Ushijima was always planning ahead.

“I doubt it’ll hit hard enough for us to leave the city but if it makes you feel better I’ll get gas before work tomorrow.” They were silent for a while and Tendou thought Ushijima had fallen asleep again until he spoke.

“Wait, so they’re just going to dig her body up and steal her? That’s super illegal.”

“I mean they’ve already done everything else to respect her last wishes.”

“True. I feel like I wouldn’t want my kids to have to see my dead body though.” Tendou agreed.

“If my family went against my wishes and buried me would you dig me up and burn my body?” He looked down at Ushijima’s questioning face with a smile.

“Sure, if I wouldn’t get caught. If I couldn’t though you might have to deal with being buried until I’m dead too.”

“You want to be buried?”

“No, but I could come get you in the afterlife regardless right?” Something tugged at Tendou’s heart and it hurt a little bit. At the same time it brought up some weird feelings he had never even thought about before. Would they really still be friends even after they were dead? Ushijima looked up at him. “Sorry, did I say something weird? I didn’t mean it if that’s creepy or whatever.”

“No, it’s fine. I was just thinking that would be… cool. We could go around haunting people and stuff together.” The movie went along and the kids and father ended up giving the mom some kind of viking funeral. The drama was pretty emotional and Tendou’s artistic side was eating it up in the end. By the time the movie was over it was only a little after noon.

“What should we have for lunch?” Ushijima got up and went to Tendou’s kitchen.

“I have some tuna that I bought. We could eat it over rice with some veggies.” He got up and shuffled around Ushijima and pulled out the huge rice maker his mom had given him before he left town. It was much nicer than the small one he had in his dorm during college, and he used it almost every day. Ushijima set the tuna on the counter and cut the package open, heating a pan and waiting quietly. Tendou measured the rice and water and put it on to cook. He left for a moment to turn the TV back to the weather channel. Tendou chopped some vegetables up and watched Ushijima put olive oil in the pan. His kitchen wasn’t very big by any means. The two counters across from each other left enough room for maybe three people to fit, but it was still a tight fit with both of them working at the same time. Ushijima leaned against the counter with Tendou after he put the lid on the vegetable pan. Tendou laughed internally at how domestic this all was and at how it would kind of be like this if they had decided to be roommates. The wind picked up outside and the already heavy rain was hitting the sliding door really hard.

“You didn’t leave any plants on your balcony did you?”

“No, I don’t usually keep plants cause I get sad when they die. I killed cactus once.” Tendou made a solemn expression at that. Ushijima looked surprised.

“How?”

“It looked like it was getting squished in its little pot so I tried to replant it, but I didn’t know what kind of dirt it needed and then it just got too much water I think.” Ushijima hummed.

“It probably rotted. I’ll get you another one and help you with it.” Tendou laughed and put a hand on his heart. Ushijima just stared at him with that determined puppy face he got sometimes.

“Wakatoshi you’re so caring.” He patted his friend on the back and moved to stir the vegetables. The rice cooker shut off and Ushijima changed it to the “keep warm” setting, and got two bowls to fill. Tendou put the veggies on a plate and put the tuna on to sear for just a moment. “I feel so fancy making this stuff at home. It’s usually pretty expensive for one but the marketplace down the street had a sale.” He took the pieces off with his cooking chopsticks and placed them in their bowls. They sat across from each other quietly enjoying the meal. Tendou could get used to this. He really didn't want to get up for work tomorrow. The rain made his apartment like a comfortable bubble that he would be fine with never leaving.

The day dragged on with cups of tea and movies, and one or both of them dozing off now and then. Ushijima admitted to being restless last night and now being unable to shake off the sleepiness that the weather caused. Tendou felt that too and was happy they didn't have to do anything today. The storm was still carrying on into the late evening but the flooding in near areas had stopped.

“Man I have to get up at six.” Tendou whined and pulled the sofa blanket up over his face. “I feel like we were lazy all day and I'm already tired.”

“It's because your body knows your schedule.” Tendou groaned again and Ushijima yawned. “I have to be up at six too. I guess I should go since the rain isn't so bad…” Ushijima sounded a little regretful but maybe that was just Tendou’s imagination.

“Well let me know if you have to stay late at work tomorrow.” Tendou threw the blanket off of him and went to the kitchen. “I think some of my coworkers want to do ‘Martini Monday’ at this place for happy hour.” He made air quotes and disappeared again. Ushijima got up to change into the clothes he had on yesterday.

“Just text me and I'll let you know.” He walked back out of the bedroom and Tendou handed him a container of the leftovers from earlier. Ushijima stared at the food for a second and took it.

“What?” He looked back up at Tendou and felt his neck get a little hot.

“Nothing. Thank you.” Tendou saw him out and once he was gone checked the time to see that it was already eight. He poured himself another glass of tea and headed to the bathroom to draw a bath. He probably wouldn’t be able to sleep right away but this would surely ease any mental stress he was holding onto before work tomorrow. He closed the door and stripped down while he waited for the tub to fill up. Even though he lived alone he felt weird about leaving the doors open while he was vulnerable. He stepped into the water and sighed when he sunk all the way down to his chin. His knees poked up above the surface higher than he would like, but being tall came with some small sacrifices. Tendou laid there for a while focusing on the swirling steam that rose around him. He thought about today and the weekend in general and when he thought about it, it was the most amount of continuous time he and Ushijima had spent together in a while. Usually they didn’t really see each other for days at a time but it wasn’t bad that way, they both had jobs and business to attend to, but with some new revelations within himself Tendou both craved and dreaded spending even more time with his friend. He had the most fun in his company and they really never had problems. Things were simple with Ushijima. The inkling of dread though was what Tendou found odd. He felt like he needed more time to just stop thinking about his friend so it wouldn’t disrupt whatever normal they had right now.

Tendou dipped his head down for a second to wet his hair and sat up completely to start washing. Though, whatever they were wasn’t necessarily considered normal, that had disappeared two months ago. Could they really carry on this way? Tendou had never intended to keep Ushijima from dating anyone or finding someone to take home, but the more he thought about that the more he didn’t like the idea of it. He tried to picture either of them with a girlfriend or boyfriend to occupy their time now; going grocery shopping, filling up space in their bed, kissing. Tendou shook his head at how wrong it seemed and wanted to scold himself for feeling that way. It’s not like they would lose each other to a significant other because they were just friends. Plus if they had problems they could run to each other, that’s what friendship was all about. Then why didn’t he just talk this over with the man himself? And then the thoughts came full circle and Tendou rinsed off, exasperated. He should really stop overthinking everything. He let the plug go and dried off to get ready for bed. The rain had started up again and it was pretty soothing. He turned everything off and closed the blinds in the living room. He shut the door to his bedroom and rolled himself up in his white comforter and sheets, checking his phone once he was finally comfortable. There was a text that he had missed a few minutes ago from Ushijima.

_“Made it home. Thanks for the food, see you soon.”_

Tendou laid his cheek against his pillow thinking about if he even needed to respond. Even with the lamp on his bedside his eyelids were getting heavy. He lifted his head before he could fall asleep and texted back. _“No problem! :P Thanks for keeping me company!”_  He waited to see if it was read and once it was he set his alarm and plugged his phone up. The pillow was so cool on his face and he spread his legs out to take up all the space in the bed. He looked at the lamp and leaned up one last time to turn it off, silently wishing there wasn’t as much space for him to take up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I ain’t gay or anything but I would totally marry my best friend. These boys need to hurry up and confess. (Lucky for me though the love of my life is best friend material :P) Kinda boring chapter once again, just the way I like it lol. Maybe we’ll see more jealousy next chapter? Idk. I need to start living up to my tags haha.


	5. Oh Boy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ushijima feels threatened lol.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you haven’t listened to Night Lovell go fucking do it, Contraband is *fire*. 
> 
> This time around I’m giving the side characters names (that I literally made up in two seconds cause idc), but if you don’t like OCs don’t worry I just need them to further some action. I’m not really using many canon characters just because they don’t live in the same town, although I like that I had Goshiki come visit so we may see some more friends in the future :)
> 
> And if you haven’t noticed my third person omniscient is kind of weird because I’m trying to alternate their thoughts with the chapters but it’s not that simple when I get to writing in detail so forgive me if it’s inconsistent.

Ushijima shuffled through the papers in his inbox and sighed. This week was going to be hell organizing the finances the accounting department came up with. Sure he was still in his first year at the firm but they gave him more responsibility than maybe he was prepared for sometimes. He saw a head of dark hair pass by his cubicle and a shorter man stepped into the walkway.

“Morning Ushijima-san, here’s your coffee.” Ryu was a nice intern, albeit a bit clumsy and easily flustered.

“I told you not to worry about doing that.” He took his cup regardless and watched Ryu reposition the cardboard carrier with five other cups on his hip.

“I-I know but the boss always says to grab some for all my managers so…”

“Everyone is your manager Ryu-san.” Ushijima sighed and gave the assistant a smile and a thanks, and he ran off to make the rest of his coffee rounds. He got comfortable and set to work diligently until lunch so the second half of the day wouldn’t be as stressful. If he was honest, just looking at what he needed to get done made him want to smoke himself into oblivion, but that was unprofessional and he really needed to focus before he could look forward to the weekend. Once it was a quarter to noon his phone vibrated on its charging dock near his computer and he saw that it was Tendou.

_“You still on for tonight?” He checked the sheets he had left and figured he wouldn’t need to stay late today._

_“Sure, just let me know when you get there.”_

_“ :3 ”_

Ushijima laughed and he saw Ryu’s bustling form go past his desk. He stood up and leaned against the top of his cubicle. “Hey Ryu-san, my friend and I are going out after work. Do you want to tag along?” Ryu backtracked and stammered a little.

“Y-you want to hang out with me?” He pointed to himself.

“Don’t act like you’re not my equal just because you’re an intern.” He bopped the younger boy on the head with a folder and handed it to him. “You can follow me but don’t get lost cause I don’t drive slow.” Ushijima set the folder down, put his hands in his slack pockets, and turned away to take his lunch break.

“Sure. Thanks.” Ryu turned away to make some copies before he got off for lunch as well.

~~

“Ow, fuck!”

“Tendou-san watch your language.” Tendou whined around the finger in his mouth. His co-worker Akira had no sympathy. A cardstock paper cut was about as pleasant as dying in Tendou’s opinion and he forced himself not to gag at the thought. He pulled his finger out and clenched it in his other hand, moving away from his standing desk to find a bandage. His other fellow designer bumped into him and held a Band Aid up to his nose.

“Wow, thanks Kenji-san! Shit this thing is even bleeding. I might pass out.” Tendou feigned being woozy to cover up his actual disgust at the wound and carefully unwrapped the bandage.

“Oh be a man. Hey are we still going out later?” Kenji was almost Tendou’s height with dirty blonde hair and an annoyingly flirtatious attitude.

“Yeah I just talked to my friend and he’s gonna join us.” Tendou crumpled up the wrappings in his hand and tossed them in the bin under his desk.

“Nice, the more the merrier!” Kenji turned around and casually walked off and Tendou saw Akira shake his head out of the corner of his eye.

“Don’t make that look, you’re going too.” He scolded and Akira stiffened comically at getting caught.

~~

Ushijima and Ryu stood near the cushy chairs outside of the restaurant covered from the still constant sprinkle of rain. It was pretty upscale for a chain and he didn’t even know it was hidden among the other eateries in the area. He saw Tendou’s car pull up and he smiled a little, waiting to see the matching red hair pop out from the driver’s side. When he stepped out he waved excitedly and Ushijima couldn’t take his eyes off of him. It must have been the blazer he was wearing because it looked new and although the cut wasn’t overly masculine like most work blazers, it had a oval cut lapel rather than a straight one and was very fitting. A white car pulled up beside Tendou’s and two others stepped out.

“Wakkun! Who’s your friend?” Tendou bounced up to them and stretched his hand out. “Tendou Satori.” Ryu took his hand and looked up at Tendou amazedly.

“Ryu Mira.”

“Nice to meet you. Guys these are my coworkers, Akira Yoru and--”

“Kenji Sakamoto.” He held a hand out to Ushijima who was thankfully prepared for the other man’s strong grip, and while the others didn’t seem to notice the slight tension, Ushijima raised an eyebrow at their exchange. He was kind of odd, arrogant with his chin up, kind of like Oikawa. Akira seemed more reserved but honestly no matter the personality everyone pretty much gravitated towards Tendou. Ushijima held the door for them and they headed inside the dim lit atmosphere. While Tendou spoke with the host Ushijima turned towards Ryu who had an embarrassed look on his face since their initial greetings.

“Are you okay?” Ryu jumped a little and pulled at his collar with a sheepish smile.

“Oh, yeah I was just thinking…” Ushijima attempted to silently encourage Ryu to use his words. He spoke lowly so only they would hear. “Uh, I was just thinking your friend is really beautiful. I-I’m sorry that’s weird…” He rubbed his neck and looked away. Ushijima just stared and felt his heart speed up a little.

“I suppose you’re right.” They ended up in a booth along the center wall that was long enough to seat all of them, Tendou and Ushijima across from each other and their respective co-workers at their sides.

“So martinis are five dollars all day but happy hour is still until six thirty for all the other stuff. I can’t believe I didn’t know about this place sooner.” Tendou let out a dreamy sigh and passed the drink menu to the others. He already knew what he wanted. When their server arrived they put in the orders and made casual conversation with him for a moment. Apparently he recognized Tendou from a few Mondays prior, the alcoholic. Their first round of drinks arrived and Tendou looked enthused over their tropical mixers. “Wakatoshi, your mojito looks so fancy!”

“You're the one with the martini and you think this is fancy?” He gave Tendou and smirk and they all toasted to nothing in particular before the first drink. Ryu lightly tapped Ushijima’s arm.

“Could you pass the menu? I might get an appetizer.”

“Sure, I'll cover it if you want.” Ryu looked at him in surprise.

“Y-you don't have to.”

“It's fine, I invited you after all.” Tendou had a feeling poor Ryu would end up sticking to the cheapest appetizer after that exchange but he didn't say anything other than a thank you. He mouthed at his glass for a moment and listened to Akira make some bad jokes at his expense.

“Jeez, I'm not that much of a lightweight!” Tendou rolled his eyes and put his drink down and Ushijima held a laugh back behind his hand. “Don't encourage him!” Ushijima just held his hands up innocently and sipped his drink.

Kenji laughed and clapped a hand on Tendou’s shoulder. “Don't worry babe, if you drink too much I'll be more than happy to take you home.” He had a mischievous grin that Tendou may not have noticed but Ushijima certainly did. It wasn't predatory but it held obvious intent.

“Psht, don't give me that Kenji-san, I am not leaving my car here on a Monday.” He brushed the hand off and took another sip. When he set the glass down Ushijima held his hand out to Tendou.

“What happened?” Tendou allowed Ushijima to hold him gently at the wrist and inspect the bandage on his finger. He knew whatever spite he was feeling was showing on his face and he made eye contact directly with Kenji who didn't back off completely, but showed he got the message. He thanked his mom for his resting bitch face and let go of Tendou's hand.

“Ah, just a paper cut. It was a folder though so it ended up bleeding a little.” Tendou shivered as he recalled the incident. Ushijima finished his drink and ordered another when the waiter came back.

“I'm going to take a smoke break, you coming?” He motioned at Tendou who gave him a questioning look.

“Uh, sure.” The others stood up to let them out of the booth and they headed for the side exit where the outdoor tables were empty due to the now steady drizzle. The wall beside it was semi hidden by the flowers growing there and Ushijima picked a spot beside them under the awning that wrapped around the building. “I didn't know you still carried cigs around with you Wakkun. You know they’re bad for you.” He pulled out a box he kept on him every now and then; there was only one gone from the pack. Despite the comment he shook two out and handed one to Tendou while he fished a steel lighter out of his jacket pocket.

“I don't usually but my workload is looking to be pretty heavy this week.” Tendou moved in closer and Ushijima lit the stick he held in his mouth. He covered his own and watched the smoke drift around them.

“Sorry if Kenji rubs you the wrong way. He’s a laugh though so I let him stick around.” Tendou breathed out some smoke and Ushijima watched him. Their shoulders brushed and Tendou caught him staring. “Is there something on my face?” He moved the cigarette from his mouth and Ushijima took the opportunity to place a hand on Tendou's chin. He didn't really consider answering the question and leaned over him against the wall.

“No.” He answered anyway and pressed their mouths together. Whatever sense he had about doing this kind of thing now of all times was replaced by the instinct he felt telling him not to let that other guy in there make a move on his best friend. It seemed childish really but he didn't know what else he could do. Tell the guy to back off when Tendou was obviously single? That would make Ushijima look possessive and most likely pathetic. He couldn't tell Tendou not to have any interest in someone else because quite frankly he didn't belong to him. That thought itself pulled at Ushijima’s chest and he pressed up closer to Tendou to deepen the kiss.

The redhead responded and rested his arms on Ushijima's shoulders, mindful of the cigarette he was still holding. They were both close to the same height and Tendou had been thankful for that since day one, and let his tongue part their lips. It was really hot for a long moment and Ushijima was starting to get flashbacks of just what Tendou looked like undressed and lying under him. He felt pressure on his chest and took it as Tendou needing air, so he broke the kiss and pulled away. He didn't expect however the slightly upset look on Tendou's face.

“What's wrong, did I hurt you?” He put more space between them so Tendou wasn't against the wall anymore. He shook his head.

“No, I just-- are you drunk?” He gave him an accusing look and Ushijima just furrowed his eyebrows.

“Of course not.” Oh. Ushijima became painfully aware that he was overstepping his boundaries. “I'm sorry--”

“No, I'm sorry. What are we doing?” Tendou had a frustrated and saddened look on his face and a wave of guilt hit Ushijima. Tendou rubbed a hand over his face. “Whatever this is” he motioned between them and refused to look up, “was supposed to be no strings attached, and you're my best friend Wakatoshi but you're making it really hard for me to keep that in check.” Ushijima thought he understood what Tendou meant but couldn't formulate an answer. Did he mean keep his feelings in check? Or maybe he didn't want the intimacy outside of their current arrangement. “I can't do this if you're going to see other people. It's not fair to them.” That was a shock to hear and Ushijima made Tendou give him eye contact.

“I don't know what you're talking about. I'm sorry if this is making you doubtful of where we stand, or any feelings you might have for Kenji. I just...don't know what I'm doing.” He trailed off and Tendou had an incredulous look on his face.

“Kenji? I do not like Kenji. And I don't know what you're doing out here when your date is in there all alone with my creepy coworkers.” Tendou sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Ushijima stepped back and leaned against the wall like he was earlier.

“Ryu isn't my date, I just invited him to thank him for getting me coffee along with the rest of our bosses.” Tendou looked to the sky and laughed once before dragging the last bit out of his cigarette and crushing the butt into a puddle. “He's a poor college student still so I have to look out for him or he'll blow all his money on something ridiculous.” Tendou recalled his exchange with Tsutomu a few days prior and understood what he meant. He briefly wondered if Ushijima didn't know what he was doing because he acted on instinct or because he had a fleeting moment of insecurity because of Kenji. Either way he punched Ushijima's shoulder lightly and motioned for them to go back inside.

“Don't kiss me like that again unless you mean it.” The familiar smile on his face was back and Ushijima had to just nod as he followed, snuffing his cigarette into an ashtray on one of the tables. What he still didn't understand was why Tendou thought he didn't mean it. They headed back inside and when Tendou wasn’t paying attention Ushijima made a subtle show of seating him with a hand on his waist. His second mojito had arrived along with Ryu’s appetizer and he offered to share since the portion was actually pretty big.

Apparently in their time outside Akira had taken it upon himself to purposefully fluster Ryu to no end, and although he was easily embarrassed Ushijima had learned early on that Ryu wasn’t one to give in so easily. He ended up saying something shameless with the most serious face Ushijima had ever seen on him, and he could practically see the surprised blush sweep over Akira’s face. Ushijima and Tendou looked at each other bewildered before laughing and Kenji patted his friend on the back in amused support. They finished their app and one last drink each before calling for the check and leaving. Ryu thanked Ushijima for the tenth time and they said their goodbyes. When their co-workers drove off Tendou let Ushijima walk him to his car and he turned around and spoke. “So I know we haven’t talked about stuff but I’m sorry if I made it weird…”

“If anything I’m the one who made it weird.” Ushijima put his hands in his pockets. “Do you think it was weird?”

“It was… unexpected. You should really warn me next time.” Tendou felt his face get hot. “But anyways I don’t care, we’ve done worse.” He laughed and Ushijima smiled at him. He wondered if Tendou meant the next time they were in the right state of mind or if he meant when Ushijima just blatantly intended to kiss him again. He honestly really wanted to kiss Tendou right now but refrained from saying anything and just nodded. Tendou opened his car door but paused. “Oh, I almost forgot. The gym at my apartment complex is closed for renovations this week.” Tendou fidgeted in his spot. “I don’t mind doing cardio by myself but I don’t like doing weights around all the people at the rec center.” Well this was slightly amusing, Tendou being self conscious was a rare, rare occurrence. Before he could ask anything else Ushijima spoke.

“Well the rec center is kind of out of the way anyways. If you want to use the one at my place you can.” Tendou’s face lit up.

“That’s great! I can always count on you Wakatoshi.” He grinned and went to get into his car for real this time.

“So I’ll see you tomorrow then. Drive safe.” Ushijima waved and headed back to where his own car was parked.

“You too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kind of disappointed with how short this chapter is but I shouldn’t force it if it feels like a good place to stop. Next chapter: MORE FEELINGS.
> 
> So my best friend’s wedding is this week so updates will be slower until the weekend, sorry!
> 
> If anyone has any fun scenarios or ideas for these dorks please suggest them cause I’m getting to the point where I want more romance than anything but I need to keep things semi-interesting along the way.


	6. Perfect Where I Am

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> My boys loosen up a little.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y’all don’t know how much restraint I’ve had with this fic cause I really want them to do the do again.
> 
> Let the beginning of this chapter remind you that they are still manly men with bro tendencies. Heh, ok but do you even lift?
> 
> Also I promise they’re gonna get high again lol I’m just trying to focus on what happens with their feelings and stuff.

  
To say the least, Tuesday had been quite eventful at Tendou’s office and all he could do was try not to stare at the time on his computer. Kenji had managed to wipe the only digital copy of last week’s motion graphics because he _forgot_ to save in iterations, or on a separate hard drive for that matter. Akira was throwing out small tubs of half used colored pencils, in an effort to ignore their overarching problem, because they “weren’t sharpened and who uses traditional media in this department anymore?” The whole day had been a fiasco and it was Tendou’s job to tell their boss on the other side of that glass exactly why they would be working overtime at the end of the week. Five o’clock couldn’t come fast enough and all Tendou wanted to do was work out and let off some steam. He was lazy all weekend and it wouldn’t do to skip so many days between the gym.

He lowered his desk back to its spot at sitting level and found his chair to spin around in as he wallowed in the ghost of their lost work. Thankfully it wasn’t the entire project but it was enough to make the deadline that much more dreadful. Thirty minutes and he could bail. He tried to meditate in his seat like his boss had told them to do to reduce stress, and he put some momentum in his spinning chair and crossed his legs up in a ridiculous display of uncaring. The rain was steady outside still and Tendou was beginning to crave some sunlight. Summer storms were so difficult because everything was humid and sticky. The freezing air conditioning of the building put condensation all over the doors and windows outside and it was generally just a gross feeling. Tendou saw their boss walk out with his bag and raincoat.

“Go ahead and leave guys, we’ll fix this project tomorrow. I already sent the interns home.” He seemed tired under the eyes but still had that positive aura following him. “Namaste!” And that. They all bowed goodbye and Tendou grabbed his things. Now he could text Ushijima and let him know he was on his way.

_“Leaving work now, be there soon! :)”_ He held the hood of his rain jacket and dashed to his car, tossing his work case in first and settling in. Ushijima had sent him the thumbs up emoji so he figured he was on his way home too. Traffic was horrible when it rained but Tendou took it as well deserved downtime. Now that he thought about it the company had free yoga classes for employees; he should probably check that out sometime. He sighed and let some person out of a parking lot since they were pretty much at a standstill. Thankfully Ushijima’s place wasn’t seriously as far from Tendou’s office as he made it seem. “Other side of town” was more like take an extra road down if you travel the shortest route, it just felt farther because there were stoplights on every street. He laughed a little remembering how much this irked his friend since he preferred to travel at the speed of light down the highway. Ushijima’s apartment complex finally came into view and Tendou turned in and parked on his usual side. He had forgotten about his head start home and waited in his car until he saw Ushijima pull up beside him. Tendou grabbed his gym bag from his back seat and followed his friend out into a covered stairwell.

“Hey, what’s up.”

“Not much.” Ushijima lead him down a path through the middle of the complex to where the common building was. Tendou expected more people would be using the gym since it was five in the evening but he supposed the rain kept people away. The room had machines on one side and weight benches and racks on the other.

“Is it always this dead?” They headed to the small men’s locker room to change.

“Most of the time yes. I’m guessing people usually come here in the mornings or have a membership somewhere else. I go running in the morning though so I’m never here.”

“Of course you do.” Tendou hung his jacket to dry and unbuttoned his work shirt. He was so ready to not be in his business attire for the rest of today. They changed into sleeveless shirts and shorts and Tendou sighed happily as they walked out with water and headphones. Their familiar routines sunk in and they stayed in their own worlds for the majority of the workout. Before they knew it an hour had passed and Ushijima walked up to Tendou after his last set.

“Will you spot me on the bench?” Tendou nodded and followed him. Ushijima added the weight and laid under the bar while Tendou positioned himself behind him with his palms on it for support. He was pretty impressed with how much Ushijima could actually lift, but he really shouldn't have been that surprised. If the man wasn't with Tendou he was usually at work or at the gym. Tendou himself wasn't as big as Ushijima but he was muscular enough and could lift almost as much. After so many reps he helped lift the bar back onto the stand and Ushijima sat up and wiped his face on his shirt. They were both pretty sweaty by this point and Tendou was almost ready to shower and call it a day. “Now you.”

“Huh? Man do I have to, I can't do that much weight.” Ushijima smirked and stood up, taking five pounds off of each side and Tendou glared at him. “Fine.” He took the bench and watched Ushijima grab the bar behind him. They held it together as it lowered and Tendou took its weight with a deep breath. It was heavy but he had benched about this much before. He did fewer reps than Ushijima had but he felt good when it was done.

“Good job.”

“Thanks.” Tendou grabbed his water bottle from the floor and stood up. He rolled his shoulders and shook his arms out.

“Feel good?” Ushijima glanced at him and took a swig of his water.

“Yeah. I need a shower.” He looked at Ushijima's shoulders where they were sweating and he could feel his own shirt was just as soaked. As tiring as weight training was Tendou felt much lighter and even more energized than he had been all day. He knew for a fact that Ushijima liked to work out, run, or play volleyball for much longer than his body would let him, and he would go for days if he could.

“You can use mine. They don't have a public one in here.” They grabbed their belongings from the locker room and covered them with their rain jackets to run to Ushijima's building. When they got inside they kicked their gym shoes off at the door and laughed at how soaked they were. “Man I feel gross.” Ushijima tugged his shirt off and wiped his face with it before throwing it at the redhead.

“Fuckin’ nasty!” He caught it and hurled it back at Ushijima’s head and he laughed. Tendou tugged his own shirt off and headed for the bathroom. He started the shower and Ushijima walked in to hand him a towel. Tendou watched him splash his face with water from the sink and the sweat on his back caught his attention again. He looked back at Tendou in the mirror.

“Are you okay?” Tendou looked down and shook his head.

“Yeah, I think I needed the workout; I'm still pumped up from it. Work was fucking stressful today though.” He turned and felt the water as it heated up behind the shower curtain.

“What happened?” Tendou let out a dramatic sigh and felt the sarcasm he had wanted to unleash on Kenji earlier bubble up.

“Oh not much, we just lost all the fucking work we did last week. I-- you know what-- I don't even care. It just sucks man.” Tendou stopped himself from going into rant mode. He was in the process of cooling down and he didn't want to disrupt that with thoughts of the week to come.

“Oh shit. I'm sorry.” Ushijima leaned his back against the counter and Tendou just stared at him. His heart rate was still up even though they had been at rest for a good few minutes since they walked in, but the urge to let off more steam almost overwhelmed him. “You're staring.”

“So are you.” Ushijima gave Tendou a side look at that rebuttal before turning his gaze up like he was thinking. Tendou took the opportunity to take off his uncomfortable gym shorts, leaving just his underwear and the towel he was still holding. He honestly was feeling really good despite his problems on the outside, and maybe that emboldened him. Maybe it was the fact that Ushijima had yet to leave the room to let him shower. Whatever the case Tendou moved around him and closed the bathroom door. “I tried meditating today too and it didn't really do the trick. You wouldn't happen to know anymore...stress relieving activities I could try out?” He smirked at Ushijima’s raised eyebrow and leaned against the wall, letting a finger hook itself at the waistband of his briefs.

“Are you being funny?”

“Why, do I look funny?” Ushijima shook his head no and took a step closer. “I mean it's okay to do stuff if it's to get rid of the stress right?” Tendou’s conscience freaked out at what he was doing but he brushed it aside. He couldn’t sit back and wait for another opportunity to get high just so they had an excuse to get off. If Ushijima’s actions yesterday told him anything it was that the other man was less opposed than he had thought to the idea of being together outside their normal circumstances, and Tendou was willing to take a wild (educated) guess and throw caution to the wind. “You said so yourself your workload was going to be pretty heavy this week.” Tendou threw his towel onto the counter and watched Ushijima cross his arms and nod his head and eyes towards the shower without a word. Tendou grinned and moved past him to shimmy out of the last of his clothing and step behind the shower curtain. He closed his eyes and let the water flow over his hair and forehead, and when he opened them Ushijima was right there in front of him. He stepped closer to Tendou and put his face under the water where the other had just been, and wiped the water off to look at his friend.

Tendou had a lot to say in his mind but he didn't feel like worrying about stuff right now. They were already here and he wasn't about to ruin it. He smiled a little and made a short show of slicking his hair back under the water and he felt Ushijima’s hands at his hips. “Do I need to warn you this time?” the playful look in his eye both irked and excited Tendou and he scoffed quietly.

“Shut up.” He reached around Ushijima’s middle and nipped at his neck as Ushijima rotated them and pressed Tendou against the tiled wall. Doing this here was a completely different experience and Tendou felt like it was the most intimate they had ever been, even though they hadn’t even done anything yet. The sex was always good even if they were totally lit by the time they got to it, but this was new and Tendou didn’t really consider it might be strange to ask for it when they were sober, he just figured with how things were going they were getting more comfortable. Aside from his personal feelings as of late he could work with this for now.

He met Ushijima for a kiss and his hands traveled down the warm skin on his back. Even the textures were different. Tendou would never be able to forget this even if he tried, and he knew he’d be replaying it in his head at work all day tomorrow. He could hear their breathing even with the shower on because they were so close, and Tendou let out a gasp when Ushijima hiked him up along the wall and up off the shower floor. A fleeting thanks to the rubber mat under their feet ran through his head and he reached over to hold onto the towel bar next to them. He wrapped his legs around Ushijima for support and looked down at him. “‘Toshi your shoulder...” His voice sounded more breathless than he would have liked and he placed his hands on Ushijima’s biceps instead.

“It’s fine.” He put his mouth to Tendou’s throat and Tendou became extremely aware of his almost hard dick pressed between them. The position didn’t last very long but Tendou enjoyed every second of attention Ushijima gave to him. When he was set back down he felt the water hit him again and wrapped his arms firmly around Ushijima’s neck to finally taste him. The brunette traced his hands down until they held onto Tendou’s butt and he shifted so their cocks slid together. They were both fully hard by now and Tendou moaned a little at the sensation, so Ushijima did it again. He placed a forearm against the wall near Tendou’s head and broke the kiss, gaining a tighter grip on Tendou’s body and grinding against him rhythmically. Tendou let his head fall back against the tile and couldn’t help the small huffs of air escaping his mouth as Ushijima moved against him. It was like he was getting slowly fucked into the wall and they weren’t even having sex.

Ushijima knew that even at their slow pace it wouldn’t take long, and the way Tendou had his mouth open meant his inhibitions were gone and he was already prepared to be finished off. Ushijima smiled a little at that thought and admired Tendou’s flushed and wet skin, his collar bones, and how his usually spiked up hair curled a little behind his ears and a few strands stuck to the sides of his face. It was a little bit surreal because when they were high or drunk, or both, Ushijima didn’t pay much attention to the small details, he just automatically knew if it turned them on then it was good to go. Now he couldn’t stop looking at his friend and wondering how he had missed all the feelings that welled up in him when he had him like this. Now that they were here it seemed stupid to go back to getting fucked up just to do this, because although it still felt good that way, it didn’t compare. Ushijima wondered if Tendou felt the same.

His muscles would pay for this tomorrow but it was completely worth it. He let go of Tendou’s backside and gripped their dicks together in his hand. Tendou followed his lead and looked down at their hands with a blissed face. Ushijima pressed their foreheads together and sped them up, breathing heavily as they got closer and closer. Tendou let a deep moan fall from his mouth and his eyebrows furrowed together. He felt the arm around his shoulders tighten and there was hardly any space between their bodies. When Tendou was about to come Ushijima watched his face as he threw his head back and made the hottest sound he had ever heard. It was something between a grunt and a whine and he felt a small tremor in Tendou’s body. Ushijima hadn’t thought he could finish from the sight of Tendou’s orgasm but he was wrong, and he came hard right after the redhead and pressed his face into Tendou’s neck, groaning.

Tendou sighed and let his arms relax, still panting slightly from the high and absently rinsing the cum off of his hand under the shower spray. That had been pretty intense and Tendou felt wobbly. Ushijima pushed off of him and put his weight on the wall where Tendou was still trapped by his arms. They just stared at each other for a moment as their breathing slowed and Tendou smiled a little before ducking under one arm and turning towards the shower to clean off. After he was clean Ushijima stepped out first while Tendou finished washing his hair, and stole the towel off the counter. He grabbed another from the hall closet and threw it over the curtain bar for when Tendou was done and left to change. He yelled from his room into the hall once he heard the shower turn off.

“Did you bring other clothes with you?” Tendou’s voice replied from the echoey bathroom.

“Yeah I brought sweats. Once the work clothes are off they stay off.” Ushijima laughed and when he returned Tendou already had his sweatpants on.

“Did you bring underwear?” Tendou looked up from the sleeveless he was holding to his friend.

“Pfft, no.” He smiled and pulled the shirt over his head. Ushijima rolled his eyes and opened the medicine cabinet on his side. Tendou was leaning on his elbows inspecting something on his face in the mirror. The counter was low enough that his back curved a little and his ass stuck out. Just by looking at the redhead right now he could remember what it felt like to hold him so close, to touch him like he was all his to have. After what they had just done it was a little funny to Ushijima that they could be so casual, yet all these thoughts and tickling things in his stomach made it seem like an act. Ushijima cut his inspection short so he wouldn’t be caught and found his pill bottle. “Is your shoulder bothering you?”

“A little.” He rolled his arm and winced almost imperceptibly.

“Tsk… you should be more careful.” It was almost a whisper but Ushijima knew Tendou was only concerned for his health. Ever since he stopped being able to play volleyball in college Tendou had become the type to fuss and worry over him. It had been implied after their loss to Karasuno in high school that Ushijima would move on to travel the world professionally, and Tendou never intended to get his hopes up, so when the ball dropped and he was benched over his injury it had put a lot of Ushijima’s adult life into perspective. It had never been spoken aloud but he was sure that Tendou felt a little bit of guilt over pushing Ushijima too much or assuming things would all play out perfectly. When they were on the same team Tendou held him to a high standard just like everyone else, and more than letting them down he felt like he’d taken his ability for granted. Sure he could still play, but never strong enough for as long as he would have to if he were professional, and even if he did the injury would certainly worsen in no time. He popped the pill in his mouth and leaned under the sink faucet for water. Tendou was standing facing him now with his hip against the counter.

“If I were anymore careful I wouldn’t be living a normal life.” He was quiet and looked down at the sink. He heard a small sigh from Tendou.

“You want me to massage it for you?” He didn’t look up but the offer didn’t take much consideration. He just nodded.

“Thanks.” They left the bathroom and Ushijima turned the TV on to channel surf for a bit. He sat cross legged on the floor and Tendou sat behind him, pressed between his back and the loveseat. He felt his hands start to roam his back gently under the shirt and apply pressure upwards. Once he made it to the left side Tendou made small circles where he knew the pain was most concentrated. Ushijima couldn’t hold in a few hisses when he hit a particularly tender spot. “A little higher.” His eyebrows were pinched and he had stopped paying attention to the TV guide. Tendou’s fingers tugged at the hem of his shirt.

“Take this off.” He complied and pulled the shirt over his head and left it on around his arms in front of him. Tendou worked with his thumbs now and covered the worst of it while taking small breaks to tend to the other shoulder or his trap muscles. “You’re actually pretty tense over here too. You should try standing at your desk once in awhile.”

“Standing?” Ushijima rolled his neck a little.

“Yeah, at my office they have those new age desks that lift up to standing height. My boss invested in them because he says it ‘boosts productivity and encourages more activity among employees, promoting a healthy lifestyle.’” Tendou’s voice changed to mock his superior and laughed. “It’s pretty nice though. Everything about that building is modern minimalist.”

“I’m glad you enjoy it. Ours is much more...rustic? My boss likes the outdoors so even though we have cubicles they’re low and spacious, and everything around is styled with wood and industrial stuff. You’d like it.”

“We should have bring your best friend to work day!” Tendou rested his head on Ushijima’s right shoulder and hummed before getting back to his massage.

“We work the exact same hours.”

“Ah it was a joke, Wakatoshi, a joke.” Ushijima smiled and went back to finding something for them to watch. Tendou really knew how to make Ushijima feel better. Getting on with life was an absolute struggle sometimes and even though he had trouble sleeping, there were days where he didn’t even want to get out of bed. Recently though Tendou had occupied so much of his time he really didn’t feel that way anymore. He wouldn’t go so far as to say he felt depressed, but he knew a lot of people struggled with bouts of sadness, and he wasn’t about to invalidate people with real mental health problems. Life was stressful, and unpredictable, and Ushijima had always been able to adapt. When he really thought about it, if he hadn’t gotten a job in his current field he and Tendou probably wouldn’t live in the same town. They would have drifted apart like old friends do and maybe only talked once every so often. “What are you thinking about?” Ushijima snapped out of his reverie to see that he had once again stopped on the TV guide without picking something.

“Nothing really. Just how if it weren’t for my shoulder we probably wouldn’t be such close friends…” He hadn’t noticed until just now that the massage had lightened into Tendou just rubbing his back soothingly.

“You mean like we wouldn’t be here right now if you had gone onto play volleyball?”

“Yeah.” Tendou hummed. His best friend was almost too easy to read sometimes, although his own colleagues had told him before he was a “highly sensitive person.” Psych nerds. It was interesting to imagine what life would be like had Ushijima joined a national team. Tendou would still have the same job and live here, but he wouldn’t have this. He might have found a closer friend at work or maybe even a romantic partner. Now that he had what he had though, all that sounded boring. Sure all they did was smoke, go out, work, and bang occasionally, but it was the fact that they had each other to do all those mostly mundane things with. He wanted to tell Ushijima he was thankful that he was here with him, but didn’t know how to without it sounding like he was thankful for his injury. “I’m glad things turned out how they did though, despite the worst of it, it hasn’t been so bad at all.” Tendou pressed his forehead against the middle of Ushijima’s back.

“You’re right. We have stable jobs now and we can basically do whatever we want.”

“And what is it you want to do?” Tendou thought for a moment. Sleep in? Go out?

“Eat.” Ushijima laughed and leaned forward to put his shirt back on.

“Let’s make something then. I already have some stuff I prepared this morning.” Tendou whooped and followed him to the kitchen to help. If he didn’t admit anything else to himself that day, he would say that Tendou was too important to let go of, and if changing his plans had lead them here then he was happy to let fate keep on keepin' on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hah, fooled ya with that last a/n kinda; I mean they didn’t really do the do but now we see their physical relationship grow. I hope as much as you do that we get some dick in ass action soon.
> 
> But yeah I feel like even in a no-strings-attached scenario these guys would still be really great partners to each other. Like they’re caring during and after because they’re friends and want it all to be good for the other lol.
> 
> And I’m putting some of myself into Ushijima’s feelings cause that’s all I know how to do. I try to be a sensitive person because although I feel depressed sometimes I don’t know how it truly feels to have that constant weight and illness as many people do. Anyways, I just wanted more things to build on with these guys.


	7. Fall Harder

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Raindrops, drop top, cooking my socks in the crockpot. What do you mean those aren't the lyrics?
> 
> And dude, I don’t know what the fuck their jobs are lol. I figured Tendou’s degree is in graphic design so he works for a hippie advertising middle-man company, and Ushijima majored in business and works for some firm. Just to clear that up haha.

Three days. He had stayed overtime for three days and needless to say Ushijima was so glad it was Friday. Sure he wasn't leaving on time tonight but once he finished up here his days would be ending at five as they should for the next few weeks. On Tuesday he had given Tendou a spare key for the gym at his complex because although they were both working extra hours, their schedules wouldn't line up every day. By this time of evening he was eager to finish logging the books and thankfully accounting had fixed any mistakes made previously, so all he had to do was sum everything up and write the report. It only took half an hour and he stretched when it was done, feeling the weight of the week finally lifted off his shoulders. A few other employees who had stayed behind looked to be finishing up as well, and he bid them goodbye once his desk was nice and organized for Monday. When he stepped out to his car he took a deep breath. The one good thing about leaving a little late was that traffic had died down by this point. It was the middle of summer and the sun wouldn’t set until seven. Halfway home he got a text and he was a little eager to see if it was Tendou wanting to do something fun to start the weekend. With no other cars around he lifted his phone up to quickly read what it said.

 

_ “Sup, I finished a little earlier than expected so park by me near the end of the lot when you get home. :D” _

 

Ushijima was just glad his friend wanted to hang out. If he hadn’t texted though Ushijima probably would have invited him to go somewhere anyway. It was kind of weird but after their latest encounter Ushijima was itching for Tendou’s company. He guessed that feeling should be expected since they were spending much more time together as of late, and despite the want to get physical even more often than they had been already, he really just wanted to see his friend. Sure they had friends at work and people to hang out with, but Tendou understood Ushijima better than anyone, and he liked to think he knew Tendou pretty well too. When he pulled into the complex he drove down past the speed bumps and the sidewalk closest to his place to park around the side of the buildings. This was where the overflow parking was for residents and it was close to the back gate near some woods. 

 

He saw Tendou’s car backed into the space under a tree away from the nearest street light. Ushijima vaguely wondered if he was going to get pranked and braced himself just in case. It was still light out but he wouldn’t put it past the redhead to try and freak him out for fun. He parked next to the red car and got out, leaving his work jacket and case behind. He leaned down and was a little bit shocked, though at this point he shouldn’t be. The passenger window rolled down a crack and a small amused smile appeared on his lips when a little bit of smoke rolled out.

 

“Don’t leave the door open too long when you get in.” There was a chuckle and the window rolled back up. Ushijima got in swiftly and he was met with the sight of Tendou still in his work clothes and surrounded by smoke.

 

“You came to my apartment to do this?” He wanted to sound scolding but his smile gave it away. He really couldn’t complain though. Tendou handed him a blunt.

 

“Well two cops live in my complex and I don’t think I’ve seen any here unless they’re on patrol in the neighborhood across the street.” Tendou smiled back at him and shrugged. “Plus no one can see us back here unless they actually drive over, and my windows are tinted.” He handed Ushijima a lighter.

 

“Where’d you get this?” He lit up and couldn’t help the relaxed sigh he gave when he blew out the first drag. He had waited all week for this and tobacco cigarettes were not something he was proud of using as stress relief.

 

“Akira. I didn’t take him for the type but I figure we’re all adults and I should know better than to assume things. I mean look at you, no one would guess my perfect Wakatoshi was toking on the regular with me!” He laughed loudly and Ushijima smiled wider at that and sat back in his seat. 

 

“Ah, you found a new dealer. Is this our goodbye hotbox?” Ushijima teased a little. The smoke was getting thicker and he was already starting to feel really good.

 

“Yup. I don’t need you anymore Wakkun, I found a man who grows his own.” Tendou’s laugh broke his words up a little and dropped the playful act. “Nah, no doubt if I keep asking for it from him my ‘cute friend’ discount would expire in no time.”

 

“Fine by me, being your drug dealer isn’t so bad.” Tendou laughed again.

 

“Well most people don’t fuck their drug dealer. Or do they? Now that I think about it, is it more often than not that they do?” This time it was Ushijima’s turn to laugh. “That sounds like the plot to a bad movie.” Tendou took a long drag of his blunt this time.

 

“I’m happier with being your friend than some weirdo you get drugs from.”

 

“You are a weirdo though.” Ushijima leaned over the cupholder where the ashtray was and blew smoke at Tendou’s face in retaliation.

 

“Besides, the weed I get is hydroponic and I know how you like to ‘live lavishly.’” They giggled.

 

“Shut the fuck up, I said that  _ one time.” _ Tendou was the only person Ushijima joked around with this much and it was nice. The smoke and lack of oxygen was slowly getting to them and soon enough Tendou wasn’t even making jokes anymore, he was just smiling with his eyes closed and his head leaned back. Ushijima felt sluggish and leaned his seat back a little. He knew if the high was hitting him this hard then Tendou was probably almost gone.

 

“You can crack the window if it’s too much you know.” Ushijima grabbed the aux cord and plugged his phone up. 

 

“I’ll be okay for a little while. I’m getting kind of sleepy.”

 

“Don’t pass out or I’ll leave you here to get found out.” He picked a playlist with some soft rock that he knew Tendou liked and kept the volume low so they could still hear each other.

 

“Wakatoshi you wouldn’t do that to poor old me! I’d look like such a loser hotboxing by myself!” He whined and Ushijima just scoffed.

 

“You’re worried about that?!” Tendou just laughed and lightly slapped Ushijima’s arm. “Weren’t you in here by yourself earlier anyways?” Ushijima took another hit and set the blunt down. 

 

“Yeah but only for like ten minutes.” They had been sitting for about an hour and the sun was setting, leaving their particular area very shaded. Tendou had finished his first by this time but didn’t bother lighting another one. The smoke in the car wasn’t so thick that they couldn’t see each other but the lack of oxygen was making the high more potent than if they were outside or in the apartment. 

 

“Thanks for this, I really needed it.”

 

“You’re telling me. I’m sure after this week my boss is doing the same thing!” 

 

“He does it?” Tendou leaned his elbow against the armrest and shifted to face him.

 

“I mean, he does yoga and walks around the office barefoot; I would venture to guess he does other things.” A smirk played at Tendou’s lips and it was his turn to blow smoke at Ushijima. If it had been any other time Ushijima might have blamed his feelings on the marijuana, but he knew better by now. Whatever they were had surpassed the occasional fling; he would be an idiot if he thought they weren’t just looking for excuses at this point. They were dancing around each other now and although he wasn’t one hundred percent on Tendou’s own feelings, he gathered that Tendou probably knew where they were headed. It was really only a matter of who said it first. He leaned over a little closer and Tendou looked at him. He smiled and picked up the stick Ushijima had left in the ashtray and held it up to his face. Ushijima took a small drag of it from between Tendou’s fingers and their eyes locked. When he leaned back he wasn’t prepared for Tendou to move so quickly. He climbed over the center console and made a spot to hover over Ushijima, too tall to really sit up without bumping his head against the roof of the car. His knee barely fit in the space between Ushijma’s leg and the cup holder but he made do and sat himself on Ushijima’s lap. Although Tendou’s look was bold Ushijima could tell he was fighting back his embarrassment. “You know...is this okay?” He didn’t know if Tendou meant was it okay right now or in general, but he had a feeling it was the latter.

 

“...Of course.” Tendou smiled and held the blunt up to Ushijima’s lips again and watched him pull it before setting it back in the ashtray. He leaned down and held his mouth open over Ushijima’s to steal some of the smoke, ensuring that their lips didn’t quite touch, and pulled away. He blew the smoke upwards and Ushijima let his go too. The sun was gone and although it wasn’t completely dark yet he wouldn’t be able to see Tendou very well if it weren’t for the street lights scattered across the lot. Ushijima rested his palms on Tendou’s legs but before he could say anything a pair of bright lights illuminated their faces from a distance and Tendou’s smile faltered. “Shit!” Ushijima whispered and rushed to pull Tendou down close, pulling the seat lever and adjusting them lower. Tendou was flat against him now and silently thanking himself for leaving the parking lights off even though the radio was still on low. The headlights came closer from the passenger’s side and Ushijima poked his head up to see a car pull up perpendicular to theirs and pass them by just a few feet.

 

“Who is it?” Tendou didn’t dare move. If it was an officer on patrol they were screwed. “A cop?”

 

“No, just someone.” He continued to watch over Tendou’s shoulder. Some girl stepped out of the drivers side and if she didn’t look directly over she wouldn’t notice they were there. She opened her back seat and took out two full trash bags. “Wait…” Ushijima glanced to the side and sure enough behind the parking island with the tree there was a wooden dumpster enclosure. “You parked by a dumpster?” Tendou glanced up at him.

 

“Well I didn’t really notice it. This is really the only secluded place around here.” Ushijima laughed a little and put his head back down. They waited for the car to leave before Tendou sat up again and laughed. “Sorry.”

 

“No, it’s fine.” Tendou sighed and looked around them.

 

“I’m getting the munchies.” He giggled.

 

“Did you eat dinner?”

 

“Yeah I’ve been bringing it to work since I needed to stay late every day.”

 

“Same. There’s an ice cream shop in the plaza around the corner that should still be open.”

 

“Can you drive?” Ushijima smiled up at him.

 

“No but I have two legs.” Tendou groaned at the idea of walking there but he vaguely remembered which shop they were talking about and it would only take about ten minutes to walk.

 

“Fine but you’re buying.” Tendou reached from his seat on top of Ushijima, cracked his window, and pulled his keys out of the ignition. “Can we change first? I’m tired of being in my work clothes.” Ushijima had almost forgotten they were in their slacks and button downs, and he always knew Tendou hated uniforms. Even when they were in high school if he couldn’t wear jeans or sweats he would complain endlessly. He hoped no one saw them when they both exited the passenger side door because the smoke was curling out and it was an overall compromising event. Ushijima got his stuff out of his own car and Tendou grabbed the bag he always had with him.

 

“Do you live in your car?” He threw his blazer over his shoulder and Tendou laughed.

 

“No! It’s the weekend so I figured I should have some clothes in case I end up passed out somewhere that isn’t my house this time.”

 

“Yeah, like a park bench.”

 

“You wouldn’t leave me on a park bench!” Ushijima smirked as they made their way to his apartment. They were changed in no time and headed toward the complex gate. 

 

“You’re wearing a long sleeve?” He had a T-shirt on himself because it was still warm at night during the summer.

 

“Well I’m cold natured.” It was a little breezy but it took a lot more than this to make Ushijima uncomfortable. Tendou pulled the sleeves of his shirt over his hands a little sheepishly and walked beside his friend. 

 

“Oh, here’s your gym key back. Mine will be done sometime tomorrow.” Ushijima put the key card in his wallet with a thanks. The sidewalk curved around the block and thankfully traffic was light on his street. The plaza was a little historic square surrounded by quaint buildings, and in the center there was a ground tile fountain that spouted out of decorative holes during the day. There were a few benches around it and the whole place around that was grass, except of course the parking spaces that lined the edge of the shops. It was deserted when they got there except for a family heading to their car. The yellow street lights scattered about made the place look surreal, and by this time of evening the only places open were the ice cream shop and an artsy boutique on the opposite side. “This place is really cute Wakatoshi! I've never turned in here before.”

 

“Yeah, it’s nice. Sometimes the owner of the plot does outdoor movie nights for the kids in local neighborhoods. I think we’ve had a few flyers at work about them before, especially during Christmas.” Ushijima pointed to a little platform that was empty but could cater to small bands and such. Tendou smiled and they walked along the sidewalk past a bunch of “closed” signs until they got to the shop. The fresh air had really helped to clear their heads even if the high hadn’t really faded, and they could hide it when it mattered. Tendou held the door open and they stepped into the well-lit establishment. It was all pastel colors and the photos of customers covered the walls. Ushijima smiled at Tendou’s back as he fawned over all the different flavors and mix-ins to choose from. “One sweet cream with rainbow sprinkles.” The kid behind the counter scooped and got to work mixing it. 

 

“You always get the same thing.” Tendou looked at him with a teasing grin. 

 

“I like what I like. It's the best flavor.”

 

“Arguable.” When Ushijima's order was done it was placed on top of the glass for him to take and Tendou ordered chocolate swirl with brownie pieces.

 

“That's way too rich to eat all together.”

 

“You can never have too much chocolate!” Tendou pouted a little but Ushijima swore he saw his eyes sparkle when his ice cream was finished and placed on the counter. He had admitted to himself a while ago that he found Tendou unmistakably attractive, but he couldn't help thinking Tendou looked so cute. Yes they were both grown men and Tendou rarely acted “cute,” but he was. He was bubbly and easy to please, and Ushijima would do anything if it meant he could see Tendou’s face light up like that again. He met the barista at the register and pulled his card out. “I was joking when I said you were buying Wakatoshi-kun.” Tendou didn't look very sorry though. 

 

“I don't mind.” He paid and they agreed to eat outside and walk around the dry fountain under the street lights. 

 

“Man, I should've got a cone.” 

 

“You'd just end up making a mess.”

 

“I'm not that messy!” 

 

“Yeah but when you eat chocolate it somehow ends up somewhere other than your mouth, even if you're careful.” Tendou sucked his teeth but couldn't disagree. They walked around for a minute enjoying their treats and pretty soon found a spot in the grass a little ways away from the movie platform. There weren't as many lights but they didn't really care. The occasional car would pass by the main road but no one ventured into the plaza. 

 

“Can I try yours?” They sat cross legged next to each other and Tendou’s shoulder bumped his when he leaned into Ushijima's space. 

 

“Oh, Mr. Triple Chocolate wants to try my boring flavor?” Tendou just attempted to push him over and take his cup. 

 

“I never said it was  _ boring _ , you just never get anything new.” Ushijima traded cups with him. 

 

“Now that I think about it you get the same thing every time too.” Tendou tensed up a little and laughed. 

 

“I do too! Last time I got chocolate chips in it, not brownie pieces…”

 

“Mhm.” Ushijima took a small piece of brownie off his spoon and sighed at how sweet it was. “I wouldn't be able to eat more than a few bites of this.” He watched Tendou try his and smile around the spoon. 

 

“Yours is really good! Not chocolate, but good.” They traded again and Tendou leaned sleepily on Ushijima. “This is really nice. I could just stay here forever.” It was kind of an odd thing to say but Ushijima felt the same. It was tranquil. The city was generally quiet because they didn't live near downtown, but they weren't nestled in suburbia either. The lights glowed in a way that almost made it regrettable that the sun would eventually come back and signal a new day. He didn't want tomorrow to be new, he wanted it to be just like this. He set his empty cup beside him and placed an arm around Tendou, who shivered once from the ice cream. 

 

“Satori, are we weird?” Tendou looked up at him from the side before returning to his ice cream. 

 

“I already told you earlier you're a weirdo.”

 

“I mean like, are  _ we _ weird? Together?” Tendou set his own cup aside and turned towards Ushijima. 

 

“Of you're speaking generally then yes, but if you mean like...how we've been the past few months then...no? Yes and no. Do  _ you  _ feel weird?” Ushijima nodded. 

 

“No, I guess I just think about you a lot now.” Tendou’s eyebrows shot up but a second later he smiled a little and his eyes turned down. He reached for the arm that was previously around him to anchor himself when he scooted a little closer and their knees were touching. 

 

“I figured it couldn't last long. I'm surprised it took me this long to realize it…” Ushijima’s heart sped up and he just stared. Tendou laughed once at the ground and all Ushijima could think was that he really wanted to see Tendou’s face. He brushed his cheek and when their eyes locked Ushijima couldn't stop himself. He leaned in and pressed his lips to Tendou's. They were still for a long moment and he felt the hand on his arm roam up and down it slowly, stopping to grip the sleeve of his T-shirt. When they broke apart Tendou looked at him like he didn't know what to say. Or more like he wanted to say too much and couldn't choose. Ushijima spoke first.

 

“Then...can I do this all the time now?” Tendou smiled and couldn't help kissing him again. Ushijima's fingers curled in the grass next to him. 

 

“Well we're partners aren't we? So yeah, I don't see why not.” Tendou picked his empty cup up and stood, holding a hand out to Ushijima who did the same. Tendou threw their trash in a bin they passed on their way out of the square. They walked quietly for a minute and Ushijima looked at Tendou's face when he wasn't paying attention, too caught up in his thoughts, playing absently with his shirt sleeves. The apartment complex was in sight by now and apparently Ushijima had been staring into space for too long. He felt something brush his hand and looked at Tendou again when he hooked their pinky fingers together. “Sooo does this count as like a date?”

 

“I don't know, so far you've called the shots. I haven't had the chance ask you out properly.” Tendou snorted and put his hand up to cover it immediately. 

 

“What are we in high school?” Ushijima smiled and stopped him before they made it to the gateway, and swiftly spun Tendou toward him. Tendou was a little surprised at being pulled back so suddenly, but when Ushijima held his face in place to kiss him again he felt a pleasant shiver run through him. It was quick, but it left Tendou breathless and blushing just a bit. He rehooked their fingers and they made it back to the apartment building. 

 

“Do you want to stay over tonight?” Tendou was thankful he asked because although he had some kind of unspoken rights to inhabit Ushijima's place now, he didn't like imposing, and there was no way he felt like going to home now. 

 

“Yeah.” And then they were upstairs and taking their shoes off, and getting ready for bed together was more than enough. “Man we're already turning into old men, going to bed before ten.” Tendou walked into the bedroom after brushing his teeth and gracelessly pulled his shirt off. 

 

“After smoking with you I've earned a good night's sleep.” Ushijima had removed his jeans already and sat on his side of the bed. Tendou grinned and grabbed the remote on the bedside to switch on Ushijima's bedroom TV. He stepped out of his own pants and pulled on a favorite soft T-shirt and crawled into his side of the bed. 

 

“You wanna watch a movie?”

 

“Yeah, see what's on TV first.” Ushijima turned his lamp off and it was dark except for the white screen light. Tendou scrolled through for a bit before finding a drama he'd seen once and clicked on it. Little did he remember the movie was two parts and three hours long. They were hard pressed to make it through the first half and when Tendou woke up it was because Ushijima was leaning over him for the remote to turn the TV off. “Sorry.” He whispered. The room went pitch black and Tendou sighed and pressed his cheek back into the pillow. He felt Ushijima settle next to him and he forced his eyes open just for a second to look at him. He had a hand rubbing one eye and he was mid yawn and Tendou let a sleepy smile creep onto his face as he scooted in just a little. Ushijima wrapped an arm around him and slid him all the way to the middle, sighing contentedly and wondering just what he did to deserve this. Tendou put his foot against Ushijima's and thought the same thing. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t know if you can tell in my writing if I’m getting impatient so I’m sorry if anything feels rushed.
> 
> I kinda like ending chapters with them going to bed but it seems redundant. What do you guys think?
> 
> But omg fucking finally. I'm dying because now it's gonna be hopefullyyyyy, bitch you guessed it, WOO, smut!


	8. Untouched

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for this shitty chapter, it took a while to write and I still don’t really like it; I was planning on ditching it altogether but it was kind of fun so I’ll leave it in. I’m sorry my A/Ns are so long btw ‘^^ But I’m thinking this story might be finishing up soon. Adult responsibilities are coming up fast so I won’t be able to keep up with writing. Aside from that I tend to switch interest in fandoms overnight and that’s why I can never finish multi-chapter fics, but this one really hit my heart so I NEED to finish it! Even if it’s not as long as I had hoped in the beginning. If there’s something you definitely want to happen with these two though I would gladly continue writing/adding chapters even after I mark this as complete. :)

Tendou rolled over and sprawled out under the covers, wedging a leg between Ushijima’s shins. They had fallen asleep pretty close and while Tendou wanted badly to be held by his new partner as of yesterday, it got way too hot with their body heat. The cold corners of the bed were always so enticing. The blue sunlight running through the window curtains was just enough to wake Tendou up a little more. He didn’t suppose Ushijima would like to be woken up but when he checked the clock it was already almost noon. He sighed and rubbed his face into the mattress where his head had sunk between their pillows, and looked at Ushijima’s sleeping face. He was on his back now with one arm by his head and the other resting on his chest. A smile appeared on Tendou’s still sleepy face as he examined the amusing way that his friend’s eyebrows remained stern looking even when he slept, although the rest of his face was indeed relaxed. He inched his shin further over and scooted into Ushijima’s space. Thankfully the bed was big enough for them to have their own sides but they always gravitated towards the middle. Tendou propped himself up a little and pressed against Ushijima’s warm side, and as he was about to lay back down the arm on his chest slid down to grasp Tendou’s body. His surprised face was directly in front of Ushijima’s now and he had been pulled to settle on top of his partner. He looked down at Ushijima’s still closed eyes.

 

“Were you pretending to be asleep?”

 

“No, I’m still asleep.”

 

“Liar.” He saw a tug at Ushijima’s lips but his eyes remained shut. Tendou shifted to get more comfortable and settled himself between the brunette’s legs, sitting up for a moment to pull the sheet over them. He felt arms wrap around him and pull him close and he watched Ushijima’s eyes finally open lazily. 

 

“Don’t look at me like that.” Tendou just smiled and their noses brushed, but Ushijima took the initiative and lifted his head to place a chaste kiss on Tendou’s mouth. Tendou hummed and closed his eyes, enjoying finally being able to do this, and he scooted up to rest on his elbows. When they kissed again it was longer and Tendou already felt himself getting hot. Whether it was from the want or the confined space he didn’t care to wonder. Their lips moved slow and Tendou took the upper hand when he licked open Ushijima’s mouth. He felt the thighs around him squeeze playfully and Ushijima’s tongue joined his. It was blissful and Tendou didn’t dare open his eyes yet, savoring the feeling of being completely wrapped up in everything he hadn’t known he wanted until it hit them both. Maybe it was accepting that their friendship was changing that made them hesitant with each other, but now that their feelings were out in the open it was clear that this had always been inevitable. 

 

Tendou panted out of his nose and cracked an eye to watch Ushijima’s face. He pressed his body down a little harder and Ushijima let out a sigh of his own. He lifted a hand off of Tendou’s waist to push back some of the bangs that were falling in his face, and slid it back to run his fingers through it. They moved back in for more and it began to speed up a little. Tendou moved a hand to the outside of Ushijima’s thigh to rub it and pull it up sensually. Ushijima smiled into their kiss and their bodies shifted subtly against each other. Tendou was beginning to get really excited and he hoped to all that was holy that Ushijima still had protection in his bedside; if he remembered, the box he kept didn’t hold very many.

 

A sound from outside caught Tendou’s attention but he quickly brushed it off in favor of more important things. Until it happened again and this time Ushijima slowed them down to listen for a moment. They heard it again louder this time and Tendou lifted the sheet off of them and sat up frustrated. 

 

“Is that the door?” Ushijima nodded but sat up a little to resume their kiss.

 

“Just leave it.” Tendou wrapped an arm around Ushijima’s shoulders and was happy to oblige until the knocks became more urgent. He pulled away and sighed.

 

“They sound persistent…” Ushijima’s hands slid down Tendou’s waist and rested for a moment. He gave Tendou an apologetic look and they repositioned so Ushijma could get up and see who was interrupting them. Ushijma adjusted his underwear in slight irritation and Tendou watched him open the bedroom door and walk swiftly down the hallway. Tendou sighed again and flopped onto his back, listening to who might be bothering them on a Saturday morning. He heard a giddy voice and sat up interested.

 

“Wakatoshi!” Ushijima opened the door all the way after seeing who it was and looked perplexed.

 

“Mom?” She pressed her hands together joyfully as she looked up at her son.

 

“I’m sorry to drop by unexpectedly but look!” She held up a brochure and smiled widely as Ushijima let her in. He was just thankful his apartment was tidy. “I won a spa weekend from a radio show and it’s at a hotel on the beach near this town, so naturally I wanted to pay my son a visit.” She sighed contentedly and made her way in after slipping her heels off. Tendou was curious now and figured he couldn’t just hide in here; it didn’t sound like she was leaving anytime soon. He bounced off the bed and grabbed a pair of Ushijima’s track pants to ensure he was a little more modest before poking his head out of the bedroom. Ushijima watched him out of the corner of his eye when he saw Tendou emerge, but didn’t say anything. His mom was still talking about her retreat and when she turned around she paused. “Tendou-kun!” She smiled and patted Ushijima’s shoulder, “I didn’t know you boys still had sleepovers!” She laughed and went to sit herself on the loveseat. Tendou noticed Ushijima tense up a little as he went to open the curtains and let some daylight in.

 

“Nice to see you too Ms. Ushijima.” Tendou gave a grin and sat himself on the chair diagonal facing the couch. For as long as Tendou had been friends with her son he had picked up on just how odd his mother could be sometimes. Although she was stern when they were teenagers she had become softer as they grew into adults and was happy to see her son in a successful career. She still walked with high shoulders and her nose up though. She didn’t visit often but when she did it was always unannounced. Tendou respected her as a strong female figure though and she was nice to him, in fact she seemed to favor him in a lot of aspects so he hoped that would work out for the better if and when his and Ushijima’s relationship became public.

 

“Would you like some tea Mom?” Tendou snickered to himself because Ushijima was still in his underwear and shirt. 

 

“Oh, no thank you, I was actually wondering if you wanted to have brunch with me before I head out. I can’t check into my hotel until three, can you believe that?” She pouted and Ushijima smiled a little. His mother was a bit of a handful sometimes but it honestly reminded him of Tendou’s mom too. She was a little more free spirited but their fashion sense and appreciation for luxury was creepily similar. “You can come along too Tendou-kun, I haven’t had the chance to see you since you graduated college!” Tendou looked at Ushijima with a smile.

 

“Sure! Call it a date.” He smirked at Ms. Ushijima and she fanned her face with a giggle.

 

“We’re going to change and then we can go.” She nodded at her son and took a tablet out of her purse to search for a nearby place for them to eat while Tendou followed his partner to the bathroom. When they were out of earshot Tendou closed the bathroom door and slapped Ushijima’s butt.

 

“I love your mom but she has impeccable timing.” He reached for the toothbrush he had left here and they took turns using the faucet.

 

“She’s always been that way.” While Tendou felt more amusement than irritation at being interrupted, he could see Ushijima looked absolutely frustrated. Tendou smiled and rubbed his back when he finished brushing his teeth.

 

“Well we still have the weekend Wakkun.” He lifted his eyebrows suggestively and exited the bathroom to find his bag and change. Ushijima just stared after him as he left and ignored the shiver that ran down his back, spitting the toothpaste out and following. When they walked back out Ms. Ushijima was already slipping her shoes back on and waiting with a smile. The cafe she chose was closer to downtown and she insisted they drive separately so she would be able to leave afterwards directly for her trip. 

 

“M’lady.” Tendou held his elbow out playfully when they reached the cafe and Ushijima rolled his eyes and held the door open. 

 

“Were you always such a gentleman Tendou-kun?” Tendou just smiled and held back a hoot. Ms. Ushijima was playing along and he wanted to see how long it would take for his partner to gag and tell him to stop. They were seated at a table near the middle and Tendou was a little bit thankful he had worn his good jeans since the place was so nice. He and Ushijima sat next to each other across from his mother and they ordered drinks. “So sweetie, I know you’re so busy with work but you should call me more!” She acted offended but Ushijima knew she wasn’t. “You call your mother don’t you Tendou-kun?” He looked up from his menu and rubbed his cheek.

 

“Well, I usually can’t because she always calls me first.” He looked at Ushijima. “She’s always calling to tell me about her day or ask if I need new recipes so I don’t starve.” Ms. Ushijima giggled and set her menu down with a happy sigh.

 

“You two have grown a lot closer since you’ve been out of school. I’m so happy you stayed friends.” She rested her chin on her palm dreamily. “Wakatoshi you don’t know this but I was so worried when you said you were moving to a new town all by yourself. I know you’re grown up but you’re still my baby!” Tendou snickered and Ushijima lightly elbowed him. “Tendou-kun, I’m sure your mother feels the same.” He blushed a little. They both knew Tendou’s mom babied him endlessly. He was the youngest so it was to be expected. When their server came back they placed their orders and talked while they waited. Ushijima felt it time to tease his mother a little bit about being overprotective, but let it drop when they got on the subject she had apparently been dying to hear about.

 

“Wait, so you’re dating the mail man now?” Tendou covered his grin with a hand and put more food into his mouth to stop the giggle that was forcing its way up. Ushijima didn’t look surprised though.

 

“Yes but only casually honey. He is so nice.” She smiled and took a bite of her own food daintily. “Speaking of which, you boys don’t have girlfriends even after a whole year?” She looked intrigued. This was something Tendou associated with his mom as well. They were nosy, nosy women. Tendou felt the atmosphere shift a little when Ushijima didn’t answer for them right away. Ms. Ushijima was highly perceptive and Tendou was starting to get a little nervous. She knew about their preferences for the most part but he wasn’t sure if it would cause a problem at the moment. Of course they had to tell people they were together eventually but all of this was starting to seem very sudden. They hadn’t even said anything yet and Tendou felt guilty wondering if he even wanted her to know so soon. She was giving them eyes now and the small pause in conversation almost gave away the bit of tension.

 

“Actually…” Ushijima started and calmly rested his wrists on the table. Tendou sipped his water to try and not look awkward. “We have found someone. Right, Satori?” Tendou just nodded, avoiding eye contact with anyone, and Ms. Ushijima looked between them. She smiled and sat back in her seat.

 

“Pardon me if I’m wrong, but you boys finally fessed up?” She had a smug look on and Ushijima glanced off into the distance in slight exasperation. Tendou looked between them and let his shoulders relax.

 

“It’s not like I knew we’d end up getting together.” He said and gave Tendou a reassuring smile and Tendou played it cool by putting a hand on his partner’s shoulder with a laugh.

 

“Well it’s about time, you two were always inseparable I almost felt bad when you weren’t together!” She laughed delicately. “So, you don’t have an apartment together yet?”

 

“Mom, how long do you think it’s been?” She smiled quietly and sipped her drink.

 

“Now that I think about it, my lease is up for renewal next month...but we’ve hardly talked about any of that.” Tendou said and looked at the ceiling in thought. He didn’t want to make things weird but Ushijima knew him well enough by now to know that he wasn’t trying to sell him on the idea right then and there.

 

“Mine is in September.”

 

“Well don’t worry yourselves just yet, I was only wondering.” They finished their lunch and Ushijima’s mom insisted on picking up the tab. “I dragged you boys out here, I can certainly cover one meal.” They thanked her and Ushijima helped her out of her seat this time. When they walked out to the parking lot she turned to Tendou and gave him a hug. He couldn’t remember if she’d ever done something like this before, but it wasn’t bad. “Take care of my boy, you hear?” She smiled and squished Tendou’s cheeks before letting go. He rubbed his face but smiled anyway.

 

“Of course.”

 

“Mom…” She turned to her son who looked embarrassed but reached up to hug him goodbye as well.

 

“Make sure you call me!” She squeezed him and poked his forehead before turning to her car. They waved goodbye and watched her pull out.

 

“I don’t remember your mother being so touchy.” Tendou rubbed his face again and Ushijima waved his hand passively.

 

“She’s getting soft in her old age. And don’t tell her I told you that.” Tendou laughed and they went back to Ushijima’s car. 

 

“Since we’re already dressed and out of the house, did you want to go somewhere?” Ushijima thought for a moment before looking at Tendou with a small smile.

 

“There’s that new movie theater close by. They have a bar and stadium seats.” Tendou’s eyes sparkled a little before he shook off his excitement in favor of scolding Ushijima. 

 

“It’s still early afternoon and you already feel like taking care of my drunk ass at the movies?” He crossed his arms playfully. Ushijima backed his car out of the parking lot and turned onto the main road through downtown.

 

“Well we have all day. You can sober up afterwards right?” He teased him too much. Where was this Ushijima when they were younger?

 

“You wish! I’ll look for tickets!” Tendou pulled out his phone and found a movie ticket app. “What are you in the mood for? There’s a few comedies that are new! I don’t really want to see a scary movie…” He scrolled through to the end.

 

“But then I can’t hold you when you hide behind your fingers.” Tendou let out an annoyed puff through his teeth and went back up to the funny movies.

 

“Shut it you. You can hold me anyways if you want.” Ushijima smiled to himself this time.

 

“Pick whatever you want.” Tendou booked their tickets for the next showing in about half an hour.

 

~~

 

“Whoa, this place is huge!” They walked up to the ticket window and printed their passes. The ceiling reached well above them and was covered in skylights. The long concessions counter stretched along the far wall and a bartender was wiping the counter of the drink station off to their left. “I guess not many people are drinking at this time of day.” Tendou snickered and walked up to the bar counter. “I’ll take a Hurricane.” He pointed to the daiquiri machine and handed his ID over. Ushijima handed his over as well.

 

“Blue moon on tap, please.” Tendou looked at him and pointed at his mouth when he stuck his tongue out.

 

“How do you enjoy beer so much? It just makes me full.” He leaned his elbows on the bar while they waited.

 

“I mean it’s one of the things you can afford when you’re in college. I don’t know how you afforded all the hard liquor you drank.” Tendou shot him a sly smile.

 

“Wakatoshi, you don’t think I’m cute enough to get my drinks bought for me?” He put a hand under his chin and batted his eyelashes a little, causing Ushijima to blush and look away. Tendou laughed and stood up straight when their drinks were handed to them and they paid. The plastic cups had a fun theater logo and their city name on them. Tendou sipped on his drink happily and grasped Ushijima’s bicep lightly as they walked. “What number is it?” Ushijima held up their tickets and pointed.

 

“Eight.” The theater was empty except for two people near the front. They made their way to the middle where the best seats were and Tendou attempted to not suck down his daiquiri before the movie started.

 

“Do you ever play those pre-movie trivia games?” Tendou spoke around his straw and Ushijima wondered if Tendou was teasing him on purpose or if he was just now noticing how cute he could actually be. 

 

“No, I usually don't remember actors or things like that.” Tendou hummed. 

 

“I hope this movie is as funny as the previews, but you know, regardless it'll be worth it to see Zac Efron shirtless.” Tendou sighed and smiled funnily at the movie screen. It was Ushijima’s turn to laugh at Tendou and it came out louder than he anticipated, and he quickly covered his mouth. “What? He's totally my type.” Tendou enjoyed when his friend let loose a little and although he was embarrassed about laughing too loudly, Tendou thought his laugh was a very attractive quality, especially when he didn't stifle it. Getting Ushijima to even smile in high school had been the work of gods, but after college he had learned to not be so serious and awkward. 

 

“Nothing, I guess I can't blame you. Zac is everyone's type after all.” Tendou swooned jokingly. “You wouldn't go for The Rock?”

 

“I could. He's totally a top after all.” Tendou bounced his eyebrows and gave Ushijima a catlike smile. “Would you let him top you?” Ushijima felt like the daiquiri was definitely making Tendou talkative but he didn't mind. This type of conversation was always interesting. He thought for a moment and sipped his beer as Tendou rested his elbow on the cup holder between them, itching for an answer. 

 

“I suppose. I can't say I would prefer it though. Plus I can hardly see him being on the bottom.” Ushijima hadn't had many sexual experiences with other men even though he had dated one or two, but he didn't really understand the appeal of taking it on the opposite end. “So you would like Dwayne Johnson because he would be on top?” 

 

“Well sure. I haven't had much experience bottoming for people other than you,” he chuckled and looked away with a slight blush, “but it's much different once you know you like it. Personally I prefer it even though I enjoy doing stuff with girls too.” He trailed off and hoped the people rows below them weren't listening. They hadn't gotten any looks back yet though. Ushijima thought about that for a moment. He liked being with Tendou as they were but he never really considered that maybe Tendou needed more from him. 

 

“So would you ever switch?”

 

“Roles? I would if you wanted to but I'm greedy.” Ushijima smirked at his partner’s admission. Maybe one of these days they'd try it but as things stood it was apparently hard enough to get alone time even as adults. “I might switch for Zac though…” they both laughed and the lights dimmed almost completely as the previews started. Halfway through the movie Ushijima offered to get them a second drink and pretty soon it was seeming a whole lot funnier. Tendou had taken it upon himself to lift the armrest separating their seats and scooted in closer to Ushijima once he returned and got comfortable. The closeness was really nice and even though Tendou squirmed because of a particularly funny or interesting part of the movie, Ushijima enjoyed the extra bit of clinginess Tendou showed presumably because of their official status. Thankfully they didn’t get shushed when they were too loud because the few other patrons were just as lively, making the movie experience that much better. When the movie finished Tendou made it a point to keep their cups to commemorate their first real date, and became flustered when he realized he had said that out loud. When they stepped out Tendou made a quick stop by the restroom and Ushijima opted to wait in the hallway.

 

“You broke the seal and now you’re going to pay for drinking too much.” Ushijima scolded him as he came back out. Tendou whined and threw his arms around Ushijima’s neck.

 

“I am not  _ that _ tipsy, the sugar is just making it circulate faster!” He rested his chin on his partner’s collar for a moment before standing up straighter. A coy smile appeared on his face. “We should go home and… relax. I’m getting kind of tired.” He let go of Ushijima who couldn’t formulate a response right away, so he squeezed his arm around Tendou’s side and lead them to the front. Ushijima took out his phone to check the time and Tendou was slightly stiff, trying to look a little more sober for the sake of being seen in public mid-day. The daiquiris had been stronger than he remembered (although it’s not like he wasn’t prepared for that), but he could easily play it off as they walked out to the parking lot. 

 

The drive home held an inkling of anticipation in the air and Ushijima wasn’t sure if it was just him reading into things a little too much. He blamed it on how the day was going so far because as it went, he was excited to get back into bed with Tendou and waste away days and days if he could. The date was nice, simple and enjoyable, but they had spent their whole friendship doing friend things like going to the movies and going out to eat. Now that he was aware of his own feelings and knew they were reciprocated, Ushijima just wanted to hold Tendou close and feel him, ravish him, because he was allowed. If the eyes his partner gave him every now and then meant anything it was at least a confirmation that yes, Tendou wanted those things too. And when they walked through his apartment threshold the way the redhead stretched his arms and looked at him over his shoulder made his spine tingle. Ushijima wasn’t the type to really get flustered over anything, always keeping face or being too naive to get the hint, but he fought the heat on his neck at his own thoughts as he removed his shoes.

 

“I’m putting my pajamas back on.” He said cheerily and snapped Ushijima out of his short reverie. Of course he would do that first; Tendou was the only person he knew that couldn’t stand to keep his regular clothes on once he got home. “I like to be comfortable!” He would say. The air conditioning in the bedroom was pleasant since the door had been closed while they were gone, and Tendou wasted no time changing and sprawling out on his back. “Those drinks really just made me sleepy.” He yawned into his hand and watched Ushijima crawl onto the bed and hover over him.

 

“And here I thought I would have to tire you out a little.” Tendou’s eyes widened a little in excitement and he reached up to hold Ushijima’s face between his hands. 

 

“I think I have a little bit of energy left…” He closed his eyes and kissed him softly at first, and Ushijima settled his weight fully onto him, enjoying the closeness. He felt Tendou’s muscles beneath him tense and relax like he was stretching. Ushijima couldn’t get enough of having Tendou so close to him all the time. He wondered if he had ever kissed any of his partners this much, if he had ever wanted to kiss them this much. Tendou’s fingers ran through his hair for a moment until Ushijima sat up and leaned towards the bedside. Tendou followed him up and pressed his lips to the brunette’s neck to leave tantalizing licks there. Honestly, Ushijima didn’t know how he had been so oblivious to his feelings before, but in his adulthood many of his friends had told him he was a little dense. Still, now that he had Tendou in his hold, against his skin, he wouldn’t be able to hold out much longer. He felt the smile against his shoulder and his stomach flipped with excitement, leaning over further to pull open the nightstand drawer. Ushijima didn’t keep much in there so when he didn’t feel what he was looking for he paused, leaning over a little more to look. Tendou sat back on his elbows to make room.

 

“Shit.” He caged Tendou with his arms and sighed. “We used them all.”

 

“Eh, since when?” He pouted but leaned up to continue kissing Ushijima.

 

“Well when I bought them it was a really small box.” Tendou was already distracting him again though, a delicate finger tracing lines across his back. 

 

“Oh well, we can certainly do other things until we buy more.” Ushijima leaned in again. He was perfectly okay with that. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also sorry for lying in my A/N in chapter 1 because this is definitely fluff. ;-;  
> If ya’ll haven’t seen the new Baywatch have a drink and watch it, Zac Efron is BAE.


	9. Come Right Back

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’M SO SORRY THIS CHAPTER TOOK SO LONG ;~;
> 
> But I told myself it absolutely had to be finished before Christmas no matter what, so Happy Halloween lol. Anyways, I can’t honestly believe I made it this far. It means a lot to me just knowing readers out there cared enough to add kudos to this because I’m always embarrassed over my writing and the topics I choose. Thank you for anyone who read this all the way through or even waited for it to get done! Maybe someday I’ll be able to write something with actual conflict haha. Sorry if the ending feels a little rushed, I’m not good with cheesy endings but I hope this did not disappoint. I need shit like this in my life so that’s why I write it. Forgive me if it’s not what you hoped for...*sweats*
> 
> Now enjoy your smut you filthy animals.

Two weeks. It had been two weeks since Tendou had had any sort of quality time with his boyfriend. Under normal circumstances they would see each other throughout the week, and of course they had made it a habit to stay at one or the other’s apartment on the weekends. And now if Tendou recalled correctly they had only had dinner twice together because of unforeseen dilemmas at work. What else was new? That and last weekend Tendou had visited his own parents to help them move in some antique furniture that his mother just had to have, naturally turning his quick visit into a two-day family reunion. 

When he talked to Ushijima on the phone last night he said he was finally free for today, and offered to bring Tendou lunch and help him throw away a bunch of old papers piling up in his closet. Tendou sighed and pushed the water from the shower spray out of his face and over his hair. Ushijima would be here in less than an hour and he would be lying if he said he wasn’t a little excited. Along with not getting to spend time with him in general, Tendou was teetering on the edge of desperation. He wanted to have sex, and after being interrupted and held back by responsibility, just the thought of that kind of intimacy was enough to make Tendou weak. Now Ushijima was headed over and there was no way he was going to let anything stop them. He had already bought them more condoms on the off chance that they would get some alone time sooner, and now it was just a matter of time before one of them lost the will to hold out. 

He lathered up his body wash and looked at the tool on the soap holder. Oh yeah, and he planned to do that while he still had time. Tendou picked up the newly changed razor and ran a soapy hand across his abdomen. “Why am I doing this?” It’s not like Ushijima had ever said anything about having a preference when it came to grooming, but Tendou figured it could be a welcome change, and if his partner liked it, it was easy enough to maintain. 

He looked down and made sure the area was slick enough to avoid any nicks, and started to shave downward from his belly button. Tendou wasn’t the type of man with a lot of hair to begin with, and he was thankful this part wouldn’t take too long; it was the underside that would be the biggest challenge. With some more determination he made it around the area with no injuries, and stifled the bit of embarrassment he felt when he lifted a foot onto the tub side and worked along that portion. When he finally rinsed off and stepped out of the shower he wiped the fog off the mirror to have a look. It was quite the experience seeing himself clean shaven down there, save for the “landing strip” he had opted to leave in place. Tendou watched as the flush on his face deepened and he turned to see himself at different angles. Leaving the small strip of hair there was so… erotic. Sure it was sexy in itself but he was a grown man; it had to seem a little weird. Did girls feel like this when they did it? Or maybe it was because it was the first time he’d ever done this. Whatever the case, he turned around and dried off, wrapping the towel around his waist and leaving to change in his room.

He didn’t have much to do before Ushijima got there so when he arrived Tendou was finishing up the salad he hoped to eat with whatever entree was brought. The wooden tongs were still in his hands when he heard Ushijima’s keys unlocking the apartment door, and he spun around the kitchen corner to throw himself into Ushijima’s arms. 

“Wakatoshi!” His arms swung over Ushijima’s neck and Tendou happily nestled himself into his reserved space. Ushijima nudged the door closed with his foot and set the grocery bag down with their food in it, opting to lift Tendou up and walk him further into the apartment.

“Somebody missed me.” Tendou could hear the smirk in his voice and rolled his eyes.

“Of course I did! You’re my buddy! I can only spend so much time with my coworkers before I want to jump out the office window.” He squeezed a little and let go so Ushijima could plant a sweet kiss on his lips.

“I bought mochi ice cream.” Ushijima’s face stayed the same but Tendou could see the joy in his expression when he lit up immediately at the notion of desserts. They parted and took the bagged items to the kitchen to plate them. Tendou sighed contentedly when he set their drinks down and scooted his chair closer to Ushijima.

“How was your trip?” Tendou turned his head to Ushijima and took a bite.

“Irritating as fuck.” He let out a small laugh though. “There’s always something the crew forgets; this time it was an intern. Ryu-- and he was the one holding my flash drive with all the numbers on it-- got off at the wrong stop, and I had to send a search party of even more interns to go find him. Thankfully he stayed in the subway and didn’t wander off into the middle of Tokyo.” Tendou laughed and covered his mouth.

“Poor guy! Ah, but you guys all made it out okay.” Ushijima nodded.

“Looking back it wasn’t the worst scenario, but at the time it was very stressful.”

“I can imagine.” Tendou watched Ushijima for a moment and turned away to gaze out the open sliding door across the living room. Stuff like this felt so domestic. He never really thought things would turn out this way, but now that they had he couldn’t imagine any other outcome. Ushijima set his utensils down once he finished his plate and stood up.

“I got you something else too.” Tendou raised his eyebrows and swallowed the bite he was chewing.

“Oh?” He turned a little in his seat and watched Ushijima undo a grocery bag he had left tied and reach into it. When he came back to stand in front of Tendou he set down the little object on the table in front of them.

“I told you I’d help you keep this one alive so I bought one that reminded me of you.” Tendou smiled widely and picked up the tiny succulent in it’s pot. It wasn’t thorned like the last one he had, but had smooth green and purplish protrusions. 

“Is this a proposal, Wakkun?” Tendou was half joking.

“Do you want it to be?” And that look that Ushijima gave him said everything, that if Tendou really wanted it to be, then it would be so. Tendou found himself getting red around his ears. He was taken aback by the response at first, but just continued to smile as he stood from his seat. He moved to the side to set the plant in the window above the sink and giggled. Ushijima blushed a little, not realizing that Tendou had been pulling his leg a little, and dropped the matter in favor of clearing their plates. “What papers did you need help with?” He asked once they were done in the kitchen. Tendou knew he had asked Ushijima over for an actual work related reason, but at the moment he could care less about shredding documents.

“Oh,” He let a mischievous smirk pull at his lips, “there were some things I needed help with in my bedroom…” He spoke teasingly and teetered backwards through his doorway and away into the room. If Ushijima got the hint he didn’t say anything and followed Tendou. He had been dense in his adolescence but there was no way he could miss how Tendou swayed in his steps a little, and tilted his hips a little bit more than that. When he stopped in front of the redhead he crossed his arms knowingly and smiled.

“I didn’t know you missed me that much…” Tendou bopped him lightly on the arm and goofily fell backwards onto his bed.

“Oh Wakatoshi, I’m suddenly so cold!” He scooted all the way back to the pillows and headboard, letting himself be surrounded by the fluffy white comforter. “Could you come here and warm me up?” He had meant for that last part to sound playful, but it just came out quieter than he had hoped, and more sultry than he thought was possible coming from him. He also wasn’t prepared for Ushijima to move so quickly to hover over him and pull him into an embrace. Tendou smiled and felt small nips at his neck and earlobe. “Guess I wasn’t the only one missing…” He gasped at the hard suction on his neck and watched Ushijima pull away and lean up. He seemed out of breath already.

“If I’m being honest, I feel like I’ve been waiting forever to get you alone.” He leaned back down and met Tendou for a heavy kiss, wasting no time in nearly devouring his mouth. The way Ushijima easily let his will to resist slip up was quite the turn on. Though Tendou loved how dominant by nature his partner really was, he didn’t plan on just laying back and taking it this time, and gave just as much. He gripped under the hem of Ushijima’s shirt and ran his short nails lightly over the skin there. “I guess I didn’t realize how badly I wanted you until we were apart for a few days.” He spoke against the lips beneath his own and Tendou felt his heart speed up like he had lost his balance. He almost hoped Ushijima couldn’t feel the pounding against his own chest. Just hearing something like that come from Ushijima’s mouth seemed sinful, but it was thrilling. Anyone who had known Ushijima before would never assume he was like this in bed, and Tendou felt lucky enough to hear these words and feel the body enveloping him. 

Their kiss was eager but not forceful, the gentle slide of Ushijima’s tongue coaxing Tendou back to reality. He let his hands roam some more until they were lifting the front of Ushijima’s shirt between them, teasingly rubbing at the brunette’s nipples. Ushijima moaned and lightly pulled at Tendou’s lip with his teeth. When he lifted himself up Tendou looked slightly dazed and Ushijima took it upon himself to reach up and run a thumb over the wetness left there. He didn’t expect when Tendou’s tongue met the tip of the finger and coaxed it into his mouth, holding it there and staring up at him like that.

“Fuck, Satori, you’re such a tease.” Tendou let his thumb go and smiled, bringing his legs up to quickly wrap around the other’s still clothed body.

“Am I?” His hands ran up and down Ushijima’s torso a few times before pulling the shirt over his head. Once he removed his own, Ushijima’s face was right there in front of his waiting to capture him with more kisses. Tendou was so eager to get the rest of their clothes off, but was mentally urging himself to slow down a bit, knowing if it got too intense he wouldn’t last very much longer. He let a hand make its way between them to rub against Ushijima’s dick through his jeans. Ushijima pushed down on it a little and moved to nibble at Tendou’s ear in appreciation. “You’re so hard…” Tendou flushed a little since he hadn’t meant for that to be heard aloud, but huffed a little when the brunette returned the action. 

“Am I?” He lifted his head to look into Tendou’s eyes with a glint of amusement, repeating what Tendou had said just moments ago, but his stare was overpowered with want. He smoothed over Tendou’s erection with his hand and Tendou decided it was time to get out of their clothes. He started to undo Ushijima’s pants and then pulled them down from the back and sides with his thumbs. As he slid them down his fingers brushed bare skin all the way down.

“Toshi...you’re not wearing underwear?” He watched Ushijima sit up confidently and kick the jeans all the way off, comfortably nude and sitting between Tendou’s legs.

“I figured you might get a little eager at some point, so I ditched them.” He reached down to his speechless partner’s pants and gently tugged them down. Tendou was unfortunately wearing briefs, but they were an obstacle that could be easily overcome in a matter of seconds. Ushijima hovered over him until they were both naked and Tendou tried not to squirm too much, eager to see the brunette’s reaction to his own little surprise. The anticipation of what they were about to do coupled with the idea that both of them had been thinking of doing these things beforehand made him shiver with excitement. When he saw Ushijima’s eyes wander down Tendou smirked a little at the puff of air that he let out through his nose. 

“You like it?” Tendou adjusted his weight onto his elbows when Ushijima spread one of his legs to the side and used a thumb to run over the trimmed landing strip of red hair on his crotch. 

“Yeah…” He leaned down and ran his teeth over one of Tendou’s hip bones and kissed around there for a second, regaining some composure before flashing a teasing smile. “It makes you look like a slut.”

“Oh Wakatoshi, tell me more!” Tendou threw his head back and laughed to himself. Mindful of Ushijima, he flipped onto his side just enough to grab a condom and a brand new bottle of lube out of his bedside drawer. He felt Ushijima’s weight pushing him onto his stomach before he could turn around again and was slightly startled by the sudden grip on his hips. “Waka-- nng! What the fuck…” He wanted to cry out at the sudden warm, wet feeling making its way up under his balls to his ass. “That’s not-- that’s so dirty…” He moaned outrightly when Ushijima met his eyes, face buried in his ass and tongue laving across his sensitive skin. He paused.

“It’s fine. You showered.” He had a point, Tendou had washed pretty thoroughly in preparation for today, but he hadn’t expected this. The tongue continued lightly along Tendou’s ass, Ushijima using one hand now to spread him apart a little more. He lifted up slightly and pushed his face into the pillow for a second, getting lightheaded from unconsciously holding his breath and the stimulation of Ushijima’s tongue. The pressure changed repeatedly until it was breaching his entrance and Tendou sighed and pushed back a tiny bit. He was usually good about staying focused on what they were doing but the way Ushijima was taking care of him made his head fuzzy. He only came back to reality for a moment when he felt a finger push its way inside of him.

“Goddamn!” He looked back to see Ushijima sitting up again and smirking ever so slightly. It had hurt a little but it always does, and it didn’t even matter to him because the feeling of it moving around and stretching him out was so good. Regardless, he tossed the lube to the foot of the bed and listened as Ushijima popped it open, using it to work in two more fingers before Tendou started being loud again.

“Come on Wakatoshi...just put it in me already.” He whined and wiggled a little. His face was red and it made Ushijima want to poke fun at him a little, but that thought went straight out the window hearing Tendou’s begging. He took in the sight of him for just a moment, following the smooth curve of his back and down to where he pulled his fingers out, letting out a small pant that he wasn’t very proud of. He reached for the condom, tore it open, and rolled it on without missing a beat, pressing his body against Tendou’s back. Tendou twisted slightly with heavy eyes to watch Ushijima as he pressed into him. His mouth fell open in a half sigh, half groan and the brunette couldn’t help but move forward and kiss his lover. 

The next shallow thrusts inched Ushijima in deeper and deeper until he was completely inside of Tendou. The redhead gasped at the feeling of being filled and let go of Ushijima’s lips to hang his head down between his elbows. He gathered his thoughts before he could be lost completely and ground back a little. He saw Ushijima’s arms cage him in when he lifted himself up and thrust in a little harder, beginning to pick up the pace. Tendou had to keep his eyes from unfocusing and he panted with every movement. They weren’t even high like the first time but he felt just as stimulated and even more turned on by the feeling of being fucked so thoroughly. Maybe it was the fact that their feelings were out in the open now, or simply the knowledge that they could do this over and over whenever they felt like it. Ushijima’s dick rubbed along his prostate when his angle changed and Tendou decided they’d spent enough time being quiet.

“Ahhh, Wakatoshi, do it on my side…” He moaned and Ushijima supported them onto their sides, only pausing to lift Tendou’s leg up under his knee and open him up more. He wrapped his hand behind Ushijima’s neck and held on as he was thrust into at a much faster pace. “Oh fuck, that’s good~.” Tendou wasn’t usually so adamant to let his thoughts be heard like this but he didn’t even care at this point. After all, Ushijima wasn’t complaining about getting to hear how loud his boyfriend could be. 

He let go of Tendou’s leg--which held itself up at this point--and wrapped a hand around his cock to give it some much needed attention. The redhead gasped at the touch and leaned his head back against the man completely focused on wrecking him. And he had wanted to take more initiative. Now it seemed all he was good for was being reduced to a moaning mess. When Ushijima slowed down a little Tendou took a moment to catch his breath and look back at him, letting his leg down. Their eyes met and Ushijima decisively stopped before pulling out and sitting up, ducking under Tendou’s leg, and situating himself between the limbs to rub up on him. “Sorry babe, I want to watch you.”

Tendou’s eyes widened a tiny bit and he smiled. He sat up onto his knees quickly and straddled Ushijima’s lap before he could make a move to push inside of him again. He wrapped an arm around the brunette’s shoulders and planted a long kiss on his lips, gripping Ushijima’s cock underneath him with the other hand and lowering himself back onto it. His lover groaned into their mouths as Tendou gyrated his hips. The kiss turned sloppy as they picked up the pace where they had left off, now both holding onto each other to keep steady and upright for just a little while longer. The grinding rhythm forced them to move back and forth against each other, meeting the other’s every movement. 

When Tendou let his head fall back again in that way that Ushijima had come to associate with his fast approaching orgasm, he couldn’t hold them up anymore and pushed Tendou onto his back, relentlessly seeking to finish him off. His hand held his dick once more and he had to hold out so he wouldn’t miss the face Tendou made. His prostate was almost overstimulated so when he felt Ushijima jacking him off it was over. “Ah-- are you gonna come, Satori?” He sounded more breathless than he’d hoped. 

“Fuck yeah I’m coming--!” Tendou’s eyebrows knitted together when he spoke.

“Where do you want it?”

“On my face!” Tendou almost wanted to laugh at that but he was so overcome by the feeling of finally releasing that he didn’t even care how dirty it sounded. Ushijima felt the amazing clench of Tendou’s body around his dick and all he could do was watch his lover ride it out. When he was done he pulled out and slid the condom off, so ready to finish after watching his partner fall apart right underneath him. He moved up above Tendou’s body just in time to come all over his face and open mouth.

“Ahhh, shit….!” When he finished Ushijima almost wished he could come forever if only to see Tendou getting it all over him like that. He swung his leg over and sat himself beside Tendou so he wouldn’t crush him. They caught their breath for a moment until Tendou felt a shiver run down his back. 

“That was hot and all but I need to wipe this off.” He chuckled a little but watched Ushijima wordlessly get up to go to the bathroom, returning with a roll of toilet paper. He debated cleaning off Tendou’s face for him and decided that would probably be best since he couldn’t see it himself. Once most of it was gone Tendou gave his face one last dry swipe before collapsing onto his stomach, groaning. “I think I’ll just shower later…” He pulled Ushijima down next to him and wrapped a tired arm around his middle. He buried his nose in the red locks and figured it wouldn’t hurt to relax. They had all day after all.

“Your ass is going to regret it.”

“It might, but it’s not like you came inside. Thinking about it though I might just take the extra step beforehand next time so you can.” Ushijima wanted to be surprised but he really wasn’t. That sounded great to him. Part of him wanted to fall asleep right now, and part of him wanted to go again. Tendou definitely deserved a break though.

“Didn’t you have work you needed help with today?” Ushijima rubbed Tendou’s back lightly as he felt the other start to doze off.

“Just did it.” Ushijima smirked at that and pulled a big fold of the comforter over them. If he was going to nap in the middle of the day he was going to do it right. And if he was going to lay next to Satori now, in the middle of the day, or every night for the rest of forever, he was going to do it right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! :3


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